Morgan Stanley Wealth Management has removed the accredited investor requirement from one of its private markets funds and launched a companion fund focused on private equity, widening the pool of clients it can steer into alternatives.
The firm re-registered the Morgan Stanley Private Markets and Alternatives Fund as PMAX – Balanced, dropping the accreditation threshold, cutting investment minimums, and adding daily subscriptions. At the same time, it introduced PMAX – Growth and said it intends to roll out further funds built around other objectives.
Both funds require $10,000 to start and $5,000 for follow-on contributions. Clients can buy in on any business day, receive consolidated tax reporting, and take on exposure without capital calls or subscription paperwork. The funds are closed-end and do not allow daily redemptions; investors can make withdrawals through quarterly repurchase offers made at the discretion of each fund’s board of trustees.
PMAX – Balanced launched in June 2025 and now holds more than $1 billion. It spreads capital across private equity, private credit, real estate, and infrastructure through a single evergreen vehicle, with room to fold in additional strategies. PMAX – Growth concentrates on private equity, pairing buyout holdings with growth equity, venture capital, and other strategies across sectors, geographies, and vintages.
Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee sets the asset allocation for both funds, while its Global Investment Manager Analysis team selects managers and conducts due diligence.
Alison Nest, head of Investment Solutions Products, said the changes give clients and advisors more ways to assemble portfolios around their objectives. Brian Holzer, head of Alternative Investments Distribution, said lowering the barriers to entry was meant to make the funds easier for advisors to use.
Building the business
The launch lands as Morgan Stanley pushes private markets further into its wealth business. The firm reported more than $300 billion in client alternatives assets as of May and employs close to 350 professionals in the area.
In October, the bank entered an agreement to acquire EquityZen, a marketplace for shares in private companies that had handled more than 49,000 transactions across 450 companies and registered more than 800,000 users since 2013. Michael Gaviser, who heads private markets at the wealth unit, said the purchase would accelerate the bank’s private markets business.
The bank has built out the business on several fronts in past years. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management clients are now supplying capital for Morgan Stanley Capital Partners’ fundraises. North Haven Capital Partners VIII, one such strategy, closed last June with $3.2 billion from institutional and individual investors. Morgan Stanley also expanded its partnership with Carta, the private capital software platform, and created a Founders Specialist designation for advisors who work with founders and private market executives.