Scott Voss , Managing Director at HarbourVest Partners, recently joined us to explain why private equity deserves a place in investors’ portfolios — and how HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE), listed on the London Stock Exchange, provides unique access to this historically hard-to-reach asset class.

Video with Scott Voss

Even the most diversified portfolios — those with a healthy balance of equities, bonds, and other asset classes — often remain focused entirely on publicly traded companies. That’s a problem when you consider that less than 5% of companies in the U.S. and European economies are public. The other 95% of the business landscape — including some of the most innovative, high-growth firms — exist in the private markets.

For investors wanting genuine exposure to the broader economy, that private slice is essential. “If an investor wants to participate across the economy,” says Voss, “they need a private market allocation.”

Private Equity Has Outperformed Public Markets

The performance case is equally compelling. Over the past decade, diversified public market indices have returned approximately 10–12% annually. In contrast, private equity has delivered 13–15%, a consistent 300–500 basis points of outperformance. That gap compounds significantly over time — a key reason institutional investors have long made private equity a core allocation.

And that’s before factoring in alpha. “There’s greater dispersion in private markets,” Voss explains. “If you’re really good at investing in private markets, you can add additional alpha to that 13–15% assumption.”

Retail Access via HVPE

Historically, access to private equity was limited to institutions and the ultra-wealthy. But HVPE (ticker: LON: HVPE), a FTSE 250-listed vehicle, removes that barrier. It provides diversified exposure to over 1,000 private companies globally, accessed via HarbourVest’s multi-strategy platform. Investors can buy shares in HVPE just like any other LSE-listed stock.

According to Preqin, institutional allocations to private equity have doubled over the past 15 years. With vehicles like HVPE, retail investors now have a credible way to follow suit — and access a much larger slice of the global economic pie.