Private Markets ETFs: How Marketers Can Provide Clarity Through Content
Recent private credit headlines about investor redemptions and AI-related risks in software have put liquidity at the center of the private markets conversation. For ETF marketers, especially those working on newer private markets ETFs, it’s a timely reminder that structure and liquidity need to be explained as clearly as strategy and access.
At Wentworth Financial Communications, we see three ways ETF marketers can rise to the challenge:
1. Explain the structure, not just the story
When a product offers access to private markets or private-market-related exposures, content should go beyond the investment case. Advisors need to understand how the ETF wrapper works, what investors are actually getting exposure to, and where fund liquidity may differ from the liquidity of the underlying holdings.
2. Use plain English around liquidity
Liquidity is often treated as a technical detail buried in product language. We suggest explaining it directly and clearly: what can be bought or sold, how the structure is designed to function, and what advisors may need to communicate to clients. Simplicity is especially important when newer ETF wrappers intersect with more complex underlying exposures.
3. Make liquidity part of the core message
If liquidity is one of the first questions advisors have, it should not be left to the FAQs or footnotes. We suggest making it part of the key messaging alongside the investment rationale, portfolio role, and access story.
This aligns with a recent Wentworth advisor survey, which found that among advisors who do not find current alternatives content very effective, the top complaint was failure to adequately explain liquidity constraints—ahead of fees and investment risks.
We can help you with your private markets ETF content
We work with some of the industry’s largest ETF managers, as well as boutiques, to tell their story and drive engagement. If you’re looking to elevate your ETF marketing, submit a contact form and a member of our team will reach out.
About the Author John Spence co-leads the ETF content marketing practice at Wentworth Financial Communications. He collaborates with a team of writers and editors at Wentworth to help professionals across the financial services industry build their brands by creating investment-grade infographics, videos, email campaigns, blog posts, social media content, white papers, bylined articles, newsletters, and other forms of content marketing.