Mark Flickinger shares his journey from engineering and building small businesses to working in private market investing at BIP Capital, where he helps both entrepreneurs and high-net-worth investors achieve their goals. He explains that private markets have grown as many high-quality companies remain private longer, creating opportunities for alpha that are less available in public markets, especially as IPO thresholds have risen. Flickinger highlights trends in alternatives, noting that while AI attracts attention, compelling private businesses can now be accessed at lower entry costs. Today we discuss...

Why Private Markets Are Reshaping the Future of Investing

By Mark Flickinger, COO & General Partner at BIP Capital

BIP Capital  |  BIP Ventures  |  The BIP Ventures Evergreen BDC

I’ve spent much of my career working with entrepreneurs and investors, helping to build companies and wealth through the private markets. And one thing is clear: we’re at a turning point. 

The way investors think about wealth creation is shifting—and private markets are at the center of it.

When I started in this space, alternatives were the playground of institutions and endowments. Today, more families and individual investors are recognizing that to build real growth in their portfolios, they need access to private companies. And there’s a simple reason: that’s where the value creation is happening.

Beyond the Traditional 60/40 Portfolio

For decades, the “balanced” portfolio meant 60% stocks and 40% bonds. It’s been a useful framework, but it no longer delivers the same results. Adding alternatives to that mix can diversify portfolios, dampen volatility, and meaningfully improve returns.

Research shows that including alternatives can generate an additional 300 to 500 basis points of annual return compared with the traditional 60/40 allocation. In practical terms, that’s the difference between a portfolio that keeps pace with inflation and one that creates real growth over time. Modern Portfolio Theory calls this bending the efficient frontier. It’s how investors work to maximize returns for a given level of risk by diversifying across asset classes, blending public equities and bonds with thoughtfully selected private market assets.

The Disappearing Small Cap

Decades ago, investors could count on small-cap stocks to deliver outsized returns. That growth engine has slowed. It's not that opportunities don’t exist – it's because the best opportunities are growing value behind the private market wall.

Most founders have little incentive to go public early. Regulation is heavy. Capital is abundant in private markets. If an entrepreneur can keep scaling without stepping into the public spotlight, they will. That has shifted value into the private markets. In fact, of U.S. companies with $100 million or more in revenue, only about 1 in 10 is public. Fifteen years ago, you could buy into a company as it crossed a $500 million market cap. Today, the IPO window doesn’t typically open until companies are closer to $5 billion.

That means all the value creation that once fueled small-cap performance now happens before companies ever reach the public markets. For investors who stick only to public equities, that growth is gone.

Of course, the public markets still matter. They offer liquidity and, for many, an eventual exit. But the days of “grow to $100 million in revenue and go public” are over. Private investors now fuel the scaling journey much longer and reap the benefits of that growth.

Understanding the Varied Private Market Landscape

The private markets aren’t a single entity. They encompass a wide range of strategies and structures. Each one has a specific risk-reward profile that will align with the goals and access qualifications of different investors. Here are four main asset categories. Within each, investors can access many more specific vehicles and products.

• Private Equity: Ownership stakes in private companies with long hold periods and significant upside potential.
• Private Credit: Non-dilutive growth capital with consistent quarterly distributions and lower relative volatility.
• Real Assets: Commodities, infrastructure, and other tangible assets.
• Digital Assets: Emerging exposure to cryptocurrencies and blockchain-driven solutions.

The common denominator is that these strategies give investors access to innovation and value creation building solely in the private markets.

Accessing Private Equity and Private Credit With Evergreen Structures

One of the most exciting innovations in private markets today is the growth of evergreen funds. Unlike traditional closed-end funds, evergreen structures stay open, which allows for ongoing contributions, periodic liquidity, and greater alignment with individual capital planning.

Particularly through evergreen BDCs – which are typically offered as private credit but also exist as a private equity asset, investors can access equity or credit strategies with lower minimums and quarterly liquidity windows, while avoiding the “J-curve” that often weighs on closed-end private funds.

The Future of Investing is Private

Public equities will always have a place. They provide liquidity, transparency, and long-term value. But for investors looking to capture the kind of growth that used to come from small-cap stocks, private markets are no longer optional.

We’re in a new era where families, advisors, and individuals can access these opportunities alongside institutions. Through structures like evergreen BDCs and strategies like private credit, the barriers are lower, and the potential is higher.

The investing landscape has changed. The question for investors is whether their portfolios have changed with it.