Highlights from Endowus Private Markets & Alternatives Symposium: Part I

Industry estimates projected that private market assets under management are expected to grow at more than double the rate of public assets, potentially reaching US$60-65 trillion by 2032, research by Bain & Company shows.

At Endowus, our role and experience as leading independent wealth platform are more important than ever in powering the technology to simplify access to private and illiquid assets for individuals, institutions and family offices.

We gathered the key takeaways from the second edition of the Endowus Private Markets & Alternatives Symposium 2025.

Opening by Endowus Co-founders

Samuel Rhee, Co-founder & Chairman, Endowus
Gregory Van, Co-founder & CEO, Endowus

• Endowus gets its name from “Endowment investing for all of Us.” And, what “all of us” means is truly delivering our unique business model to everyone.
• Five years ago, we started as a platform for individuals and families. We have since moved into the institutional space, providing not only access to funds with the lowest cost possible, but also bespoke solutions and outsourced CIO services for single-family offices, multi-family offices, corporates, and non-profits including charities, churches, foundations and school endowments.
• We work with more than 90 of the best fund managers in the public and private markets and alternatives. With these building blocks in place, we can create portfolios tailored to your specific goals – such as short-term Liquidity, Lifestyle, Longevity and Legacy. We know that over time, more than 90% of the returns can be attributed to asset allocation. This is the institutional framework of liability-driven asset allocation​​.
• Endowus is solving for the access, and advice, always lowering the minimums and offering lower transparent and clean funds with no sales charges, no loaded fees, and a 100% rebate of retrocession trailer fees back to the client. Not keeping a single cent of incentives paid by the managers, we can therefore always do what is right for our clients and their best interest.

Becoming professional investors in Hong Kong

‍Hedge Funds: What constitutes a successful investment?

Moderated by: Hugh Chung, Chief Investment Officer, Endowus
Jason Green, Asia Business Development, P/E Investments LLC
Thomas Cordier, Co-Head of Investor Relations, Quantedge
Shahriar Saadullah, Principal, GoldenTree Asset Management

• A core benefit of hedge funds is their potential to deliver returns that are not closely tied to traditional markets. This lack of correlation can reduce overall portfolio volatility and enhance risk-adjusted performance, especially during market downturns.
• While hedge funds often carry higher fees than long-only strategies, these fees must be justified by the generation of alpha by skilled managers. The question is not whether to pay the fee or not, but rather the need for genuine differentiation that cannot be achieved independently. The key is to identify top-quartile firms and funds that excel in areas that are challenging for individual investors to navigate on their own. This includes managers’ ability to generate sustainable and uncorrelated returns.
• Leverage can be a powerful tool for enhancing returns, but it also amplifies risk. The key is whether or not the underlying strategy is robust enough. Regardless of the level of leverage employed, the strategy is failing to deliver the intended results of generating excess return. Successful hedge fund managers should establish a well-defined risk management framework to optimise risk-adjusted returns.

• Credit strategies have a unique avenue to generate alpha. The devil lies in the details, with significant importance placed on thorough underwriting and the intricacies of loan and bond documents. The lesser liquid credit market offers less liquidity, creating better opportunities for alpha in hedge fund credit strategies compared to daily liquid fixed income and equity products.

• AI and advanced technologies support a greater spectrum of the investment process and can increase productivity. Human judgment and experience remain indispensable for achieving superior returns in the hedge fund space. This includes skills such as interpreting market dynamics to identify investment opportunities and managing risk effectively.

A reflection on private equity — New opportunities & challenges

Moderated by: Gregory Van, Chief Executive Officer, Endowus
Keith Looi, Vice President, APAC Private Wealth Capital Raising, EQT Partners
Dominic Goh, Managing Director, Secondaries, Harbourvest
Sunnie Yun, Head of Private Wealth Southeast Asia, Partners Group
Herbert Suen, Senior Managing Director, Blackstone Private Wealth Solutions Group

• To ensure strict discipline on growth, avoid heavy concentration on a single vintage year. Moreover, vintage diversification can be challenging for individual investors, as it requires a significant amount of time to execute.
• Private equity funds were not designed for liquidity, and their illiquidity could potentially generate greater returns, which many refer to as illiquid premiums, compared to daily-trading liquid assets. As the investor base has widened and demand for liquidity increased, secondary transactions become crucial for providing liquidity to the illiquid investment.

What are secondary investments in private equity?

• In the past, discounts played a significant role in the value provided by secondaries. As the market has matured, the focus has shifted towards acquiring the best funds from top managers, rather than solely seeking discounts. It also allows investors to exit old investments while still holding onto their best-performing ones.
• Diversification is important for every portfolio, as each asset class has a role to play. In terms of performance drivers, private credit offers a base rate plus a spread of 5%, which is highly dependent on the current high base rate. The direction of rates is expected to decline in the next two to five years. Meanwhile, the upside potential of private equity cannot be replicated in private credit due to the controlled ownership structure, which allows managers to navigate and capitalise on changes, ultimately creating value, exiting investments, and delivering returns.

Accessing Private Markets & Hedge Funds through Endowus Private Wealth

Investors are increasingly looking to alternative investments such as private equity, private credit and hedge funds to further diversify their portfolios.

Endowus offers a broad selection of institutional-grade mutual funds, hedge funds and private markets across private equity, private credit, absolute return multi-strategy hedge funds, to Professional Investors in Hong Kong through Endowus Private Wealth. 

For existing clients, you can verify as a Professional Investor by filling out this opt-in form to access these funds. You can also contact support.hk@endowus.com.

You can also reach out to our award-winning client advisors to learn more about our personalised advisory service to help you manage your wealth.

Read more:

• Why become a professional investor in Hong Kong
• ‍How to allocate across private equity, private debt and hedge funds?
• How alternative investments can fit into one's portfolio

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