Wealthy institutions and ultra-wealthy families typically earn more from their long-term dollars by capturing something called an “illiquidity premium.” This is potential extra wealth that is earned by being patient and not needing to trade investments frequently.

Here’s how it works: When you invest money and agree not to touch it for a while, you give up the option to sell it whenever you want. Because you’re giving up this flexibility, you deserve to be compensated.

For investment managers, knowing they have your money for a set time allows them to invest in things that take longer to make money, like private companies or private loans. These investments usually earn more than regular, easily sold investments like stocks. The potential extra earnings from these longer-term investments are referred to as the illiquidity premium.

This premium isn't a fixed amount. Historical comparisons of private investments versus public investments suggest that the extra return has been around 3% a year.

If you think about it another way, investors who are only invested in mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, and bonds have the option to sell their investments every day. By keeping this option to sell their investments any time they want, they are effectively missing out on a potential 3% or more illiquidity premium. But if you have long-term investments, such as retirement savings, those potential extra returns compounded over many years could help build meaningfully more wealth.

The problem: most people haven’t had many opportunities to access the type of investments that can capture the illiquidity premium and potential extra returns. Most people have only had access to mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, and bonds.

Ivy Invest is here to change that. Our Fund invests in the types of things that can earn that illiquidity premium – private equity, venture capital, private credit, real estate, and more. If you have long-term investments, and you can agree to not touch it for a while, our Fund can help you build wealth like large institutions and ultra-wealthy families.

Learn more about the fund and our liquidity terms.