Switzerland-based non-institutional investors warm to private equity

As we highlighted recently in Preqin First Close, Switzerland has been named the third-largest asset management location in Europe by AMAS. According to the representative body, the country had a record AUM of CHF 3.45tn in 2024. Switzerland’s biggest private equity firms include Partners Group and EFG International.

Preqin’s 12-month investment plan data as of December 2025 reinforces this positivity: 58% of Swiss-based private equity investors intend to continue investing in the asset class over the following 12 months.

Beneath the surface, however, there may be divided opinion among institutional and non-institutional firms. Our data suggests the latter may have more confidence in the asset class, with 69% of Swiss-based non-institutional private equity investors intending to continue investing in private equity over the following 12 months, compared with 53% of their institutional counterparts (Fig. 1). Some 43% of institutional private equity investors suggested they would not invest in private equity in the subsequent year.

The relative weaker sentiment among institutional firms is reflected across asset classes. For example, our data reveals 56% of institutional Swiss-based real estate investors said they wouldn’t be investing in the following year, while only 39% said they would invest.

Fig. 1: Investment intentions of institutional and non-institutional Swiss-based private equity investors over the next 12 months

_{Source: Preqin Pro. Data as of December 2025}

More than half of Switzerland’s private markets investors are non-institutional, according to our data as of December 2025. Family offices are the most common type of private markets LP, accounting for 36% of all firm types by number, while wealth managers make up an additional 17% (Fig. 2). In this context, non-institutional firms’ optimism may provide reassurance for some private equity managers.

Fig. 2: Switzerland-based private markets investors by type

_{Source: Preqin Pro. Data as of December 2025}

Within private equity, growth and buyout are the most popular strategies, although the proportion of investors targeting them in their 12-month plans fell by at least 10 percentage points each in 2025 compared with the previous year (Fig. 3). Venture experienced a similar decline, falling from 49% to 39% of investors over the same period.

Fig. 3: Private equity strategies targeted by Switzerland-based investors over the next 12 months

_{Source: Preqin Pro. Data as of December 2025}

Some commentators think there’s untapped potential. As investment manager Schroders Capital highlighted last August, for example, Switzerland is a top global innovation hub for R&D. But of the country’s largest 20 VC funding rounds in 2024, only 40% of capital raised came from local investors. 
 
Preqin data suggests some Switzerland-based private equity investors are becoming less internationally minded. In 2025, only 14% intended to invest globally in the following 12 months, down from 19% in 2024 and 55% in 2023 (Fig. 4). By contrast, 45% said they would target Europe – down from 57% in 2024 and 62% in 2023.

Fig. 4: Regions targeted by Switzerland-based private equity investors over the next 12 months

_{Source: Preqin Pro. Data as of December 2025}

One potential factor is the fast-changing global context. As part of Deloitte’s CFO Survey Switzerland last fall, finance executives based in the country discussed concerns about geopolitical risks and tariffs. Just over half said new free trade agreements would be necessary to secure Switzerland’s attractiveness to investors. 
 
Will this prevailing institutional caution prompt managers to look to the country’s relatively optimistic non-institutional investors? It is their enthusiasm that carries the flame for private equity in Switzerland.

Kerstin Weil is Research Editor of Preqin First Close, and Alfie Finch-Critchley is Analyst in Preqin’s EMEA Investor Data Team.

Second Look is edited by Libby Fennessy, Production Editor of Preqin First Close.

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_{The opinions and facts included in the above do not constitute investment advice. Professional advice should be sought before making any investment or other decisions. Preqin accepts no liability for any decisions taken in relation to the above.}