Investors able to access private markets in ISAs from 2026

ISAs

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The UK government is planning to allow regular investors to invest in long-term asset funds (LTAFs) through their stocks and shares ISAs from next year. LTAFs are funds which have been designed to provide easier access to long-term private markets investments, such as private credit and private equity, for regular investors.

Our view: On the one hand, this is great news for seasoned investors who want to tap into the potentially larger returns that private markets have to offer. Private markets have historically outperformed public markets, so allowing investors to cash in on this more easily – without paying any tax on the returns – is a double boost.

But, many investors in stocks and shares ISAs aren’t seasoned investors – they’re regular savers dipping their toes into the markets – and as always, with high reward comes high risk.

It’s typically more difficult to get your money out of private markets investments than with public investments.

Private markets are also far from transparent, as firms don’t have to adhere to the same rules as public markets. This means retail investors could be taking on greater risk without getting a clear picture of what they’re investing in.

If the government is going to start opening up private markets to regular investors, it needs to quickly implement measures to improve this transparency to protect savers down the line.