A run of high-profile technology listings has put the IPO back in the news. But for many investors, buying on the day a company floats means arriving late. The listing is simply the moment a business becomes buyable on the stock market - rarely the moment its biggest gains were made. Companies are staying private for far longer than a generation ago, and much of the growth that used to happen in public markets, visible to ordinary shareholders, now happens behind closed doors in private ownership. By the time most businesses list, a decade or more of value creation has often already taken place, out of reach of anyone without direct access to private markets.

This creates a practical question for private investors managing their own portfolios: if much of the growth happens before a company lists, what does it take to access that stage, and is it realistic outside an institution? Private markets have traditionally been reserved for large institutional investors, with high minimum commitments, long lock-up periods and due diligence demands beyond most individual portfolios. Access is improving, but unevenly. Eligibility rules still vary by structure, platform and investor classification. The trade-offs, including illiquidity, valuation uncertainty and the quality of the manager selecting the assets are significant and should be fully understood before committing capital.

This one-hour webinar, hosted by Investors' Chronicle in partnership with Moonfare, is aimed at private investors weighing up whether, and how, to add pre-IPO exposure to their own portfolio. It will explain why companies are staying private for longer, what happens to them commercially and financially during those extra years before they list, what access routes exist for eligible investors, and the constraints and risks that come with them. This is a session about the asset class and how it might fit alongside your existing holdings, not a pitch for any individual company or listing.

Understand where the growth happens before an IPO

Explore why companies are staying private for longer and how significant value can be created in the years before they reach the public markets.

Discover how to access pre-IPO opportunities

Learn about the structures and platforms providing access to late-stage private companies, and understand who may be eligible to invest.

Know what to consider before investing 

Explore the key considerations around illiquidity, valuations, manager selection, fees and minimum investments when assessing pre-IPO exposure.

• Why are companies staying private for longer, funded through successive rounds of venture and growth capital, and what has that meant for the scale of returns still available to ordinary shareholders once a company finally lists?

• Illiquidity, valuation and manager selection: how liquid is this exposure in practice, how are private holdings marked between funding rounds, and what separates a manager worth backing from one to avoid?
  

• What happens inside a company during those extra years in private ownership, in terms of revenue growth, valuation step-ups and how its ownership and governance evolve before a listing?
• How can individual investors access late-stage private companies, through what structures and platforms, and who qualifies under current investor classification rules?
• What questions should you ask about fees, minimum investment, redemption terms and track record before making a first allocation to private markets?

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