HLB Private Bank expands private market access

HLB Private Bank has launched two private market investment vehicles with Gaia Investment Partners, expanding accredited investors' access to private equity and private credit opportunities.

The bank introduced the Global Private Equity Fund-of-Funds II and the Private Markets Evergreen Income Fund, providing eligible accredited investors with access to professionally managed private market strategies across a diversified range of underlying assets.

The announcement, made at the bank’s Private Markets Summit 2026, comes as the global private market universe undergoes a historic transformation, evolving from an alternative niche into an essential core portfolio asset class. Total assets in the sector have grown tenfold over the last few decades, surging from $1 trillion in the 1990s to approximately $10 trillion today. Driven by an expanded universe that now includes private credit, infrastructure, and royalties, the sector’s total assets is projected to reach $25 trillion by 2030, with private assets already representing 10% of the global gross domestic product.

As public market correlations tighten, portfolio optimisation requires a profound shift in asset allocation. By integrating these new vehicles, HLB Private Bank empowers its clients to "push" their portfolio’s Efficient Frontier out, unlocking historically superior risk-adjusted returns marked by both higher yields and reduced volatility compared to traditional public benchmarks.

The two newly launched vehicles target distinct, complementary strategic utilities for accredited investors. The Global Private Equity Fund-of-Funds II (Total Returns Focused) is designed for long-term capital compounding and targets a Net Internal Rate of Return (IRR) in the mid-teens. The portfolio provides immediate diversification across top-tier global managers, strategically allocated across mid-market buyouts, co-investments, secondaries, and growth equity.

Meanwhile, the Private Markets Evergreen Income Fund is designed as a multi-strategy income stabiliser, targeting a total return of 8% to 10% per annum with a 6% to 8% target cash yield. Rather than relying solely on a single asset class, the fund constructs a robust defensive framework by diversifying across multiple specialised sleeves, including US and EU senior direct lending, infrastructure credit, real estate credit, and cash-flow-generating intellectual property royalties.

This multi-asset credit design leverages the historical strength of private credit, while adding natural, asset-backed inflation hedges and filling structural bank lending gaps. The inclusion of specialised segments like private infrastructure and intellectual property royalties also offer niche diversification and strategic utility, providing clients with steady, uncorrelated cash flows that remain resilient across shifting macroeconomic cycles.

According to Jeffrey Yap, managing director and regional head of wealth management at HLB, “This level of direct access is the differentiating factor we strive to provide. Private markets have matured far beyond standalone, tactical allocations, now forming an essential core portfolio building block. By partnering with Gaia, we are moving away from rigid, single-strategy constraints to offer true institutional-grade, multi-sleeve vehicles. Whether it is capturing returns through global mid-market buyouts or securing resilient, asset-backed yields via infrastructure credit and royalties, we are giving our clients an institutional-grade lens to unlock opportunities previously reserved only for the world's largest pension funds and sovereign wealth entities.”

Re-disseminated by Wealth and Society