Real-life insights from fund managers who built evergreen strategies from the ground up—and why infrastructure is essential to scale
Evergreen and semi-liquid fund structures are gaining momentum, especially in the wealth channel, where demand for private market access continues to grow. With nearly $700B already in evergreen strategies—and forecasts pointing to 4x growth over the next decade—a structural shift is underway.
As allocators and wealth managers seek exposure to private assets, more fund managers are designing evergreen models that blend long-term return potential with greater liquidity, access and transparency—while ensuring they can scale efficiently.
In a recent fundcraft webinar, Built to Last: Inside the Rise of Semi-Liquid and Evergreen Private Markets, Andreas Bezner, founder and CEO of Stableton, and Fabrice Zosso, founder and CEO of Swise, joined fundcraft co-founders Julien de Mayer (CEO) and Olga Porro (CPO) to explore how evergreen funds are designed, scaled, and operated in practice.
This article distils ten key insights from that discussion, covering the strategic, operational and infrastructure choices behind successful evergreen models.
1. Evergreen funds are redefining private market access
Traditional private market structures were built for institutional investors. But today’s wealth managers expect faster deployment, frequent performance updates and clearly defined redemption terms, shaped by investor experience in public markets.
Closed-end models, with capital calls, long lockups and delayed NAVs, might be perceived by some to create friction. Evergreen funds provide an alternative: immediate capital deployment, more frequent NAV updates and scheduled liquidity. These features reduce operational barriers and improve the investor experience when supported by modern infrastructure.
2. Full deployment and compounding from day one
Closed-end funds can take years to allocate capital fully, creating drag for investors. In contrast, evergreen funds provide immediate access to a live portfolio, allowing compounding to begin right away. Reinvested distributions also help wealth managers maintain target allocations and avoid idle capital, resulting in stronger long-term performance.
3. Why secondaries fall short
Secondaries allow mid-cycle access to private markets but come with trade-offs. Investors face fragmented deal flow, inconsistent pricing and continued exposure to closed-end mechanics.
Evergreen funds address these issues. Investors subscribe at NAV, gain access to active portfolios and redeem on a defined schedule. This creates a more transparent and consistent experience.
4. Evergreen strategies vary, but principles align
Evergreen models are being used across a wide range of private market strategies, from venture secondaries to mid-cap buyouts. Portfolio composition may vary, but the underlying structure is consistent: NAV-based pricing, reinvested proceeds and integration with private wealth systems.
This consistency creates a smoother experience for investors and more scalable operations for managers.
5. Liquidity is engineered—not guaranteed
A common misconception is that evergreen funds offer guaranteed liquidity. In practice, liquidity must be designed and managed proactively.
Most evergreen funds cap redemptions at 5% of NAV per quarter or 20% annually. To support this, managers often allocate 15–25% to semi-liquid assets, adopt distribution-based models or build access to secondary markets.
The key point? Liquidity depends on structural design and requires careful planning and operational discipline
6. Infrastructure drives scale: why managers choose Luxembourg and fundcraft
To deliver evergreen strategies at scale, managers need institutional-grade infrastructure—spanning legal structuring, regulatory licensing, custodial arrangements and distribution readiness.
For both Swise and Stableton, Luxembourg offered the right balance of flexibility, credibility and operational efficiency. The RAIF regime supports fast time-to-market and investor familiarity. AIFM passporting enables EU-wide distribution, while Clearstream settlement and ISIN-coded share classes ensure compatibility with private banking systems.
At the heart of this setup is fundcraft. As a CSSF-licensed AIFM and central administrator, fundcraft provides both the regulatory framework and the digital-native operating system that make evergreen strategies viable at scale. Its architecture unifies data, processes and documentation into a single source of truth—with real-time access for managers, compliance teams and auditors.
7. Operations make or break scale
Evergreen models introduce operational complexity that legacy systems can’t handle: continuous fundraising, high-frequency NAVs, queue-based onboarding, multi-currency execution and dynamic liquidity cycles.
The fundcraft platform is purpose-built for this environment. It enables fully digital workflows across onboarding, subscriptions, redemptions, NAV processing and reporting.
Key capabilities include:
- API-native architecture for seamless integration with custodians, banks and internal systems
- Digital LP portal with third-party access for transparency and control
- High-volume onboarding with integrated KYC, queue logic and reconciliation
- End-to-end digital redemptions with lifecycle automation
- Multi-currency NAV and share class workflows
- Direct bank connectivity for automated transaction flows
More than just a tech layer, fundcraft combines a digital-native platform and licensed fund governance with expert delivery teams trained to manage complexity in real time.
You can’t solve evergreen complexity with pure SaaS or traditional service providers. It takes a platform and experts.
— Olga Porro, Co-founder & CPO, fundcraft
8. Swise migrated to fundcraft—in just one month
Swise originally worked with a provider that claimed to offer a digital-first model. In practice, key workflows—like NAV adjustments, FX handling, and share class management—remained manual, inefficient, and difficult to scale.
What Swise needed wasn’t just a vendor, but a strategic partner who understood the operational demands of running a scalable evergreen fund. fundcraft offered both: deep domain expertise and purpose-built digital infrastructure.
The firm migrated to fundcraft and fully transitioned to a digital operating model in under one month. The move consolidated all multi-currency fund operations on a single platform, replacing fragmented processes with real-time automation. The project also included nominee account integration, now managed centrally through fundcraft. API-based connectivity was established between the Swise and fundcraft platforms.
The result? Greater control, faster execution, and a scalable foundation designed for long-term growth—with a premium investor experience built in.
9. NAV transparency builds investor trust
NAVs are essential to investor trust, especially in open-ended fund models. Monthly NAVs are typically based on a mix of GP valuations, secondary market pricing and third-party oversight. When done correctly, this ensures fairness across the investor base and reinforces long-term confidence.
10. Evergreen is not a trend—it’s a structural shift
There are now over 500 evergreen funds globally. What began as a solution for private wealth is expanding into pensions, funds-of-funds and institutional portfolios.
Just as ETFs redefined access to public markets, evergreen structures are reshaping access to private markets, offering more transparency, lower friction and better scalability.
But meeting investor expectations takes more than revised fund terms. Managers need real infrastructure, true automation and coordinated execution. That’s exactly what fundcraft was built to deliver. We handle the complexity so you can focus on performance.
Ready to scale your evergreen strategy?
Whether you’re launching, growing or allocating—we’re here to help. Let’s talk.
For deeper insights into how Swise and Stableton are scaling evergreen models with fundcraft, watch the full webinar recording.