TIGER 21 has been tracking portfolios for decades. (Note the growth over time of red—real estate—and white—private equity) Particularly since the Great Recession, the clear trend is that illiquid assets are growing in importance while liquid assets are becoming less so.
Price Waterhouse Coopers issued a 2015 report confirming this segment’s growth, and predicting illiquid assets will continue to grow by double digits annually. “Between (2015) and 2020”, notes the report, illiquid assets “are expected to grow to $13.6 trillion in our base case scenario and to $15.3 trillion in our high case scenario.”
A third study of note is an IRS analysis of estate tax returns filed in 2016. Since only estates worth $5.4 million-plus file, the study sheds light on what the wealthy own. In 2016, over 1/3 of the assets listed on estate tax returns were real estate, interests in small businesses and other. That is, illiquid assets.
