Almost half of US savers with 401k, 403b or 457 workplace retirement savings plans say they would invest in private debt and private equity if their plan provided access to these assets, new data shows.
Schroders’ 2025 US Retirement Survey found 45 per cent of investors in these plans would now invest in private assets – up from 36 per cent in 2024.
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Furthermore, the survey found that among those who would invest in private assets if offered, more than three quarters (77 per cent) would increase their retirement savings to do so.
Despite this growing demand, less than one third of participants (30 per cent) said they expect private assets to be available in their retirement plan within the next five years.
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“For decades, traditional pension plan portfolios have mixed public and private investments in the same portfolio to meet their obligations to retirees,” said Deb Boyden, head of US defined contribution, Schroders.
“On the heels of the recent executive order directing the Labor Department to consider improving access to alternative assets for defined-contribution retirement plan participants, a wider range of employees may soon be able to combine the benefits of both asset classes to better prepare for retirement.”
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It comes after a number of top UK workplace pension providers have pledged to invest at least 10 per cent of savers’ default defined contribution funds into private markets by 2030.
