Nearly four in five private asset investors think President Trump's policies will have a negative economic impact, according to the latest investor survey by Moonfare, the digital private asset platform.

The annual global survey of Moonfare’s individual investors, the only sentiment survey of individual investors in private equity, revealed widespread concerns about tariffs and trade wars (76.9%) and geopolitical uncertainty (74.6%).

Nearly half (49.1%) cited recession fears among their top concerns in the post-election landscape. They were more concerned about the US than Europe, however, with 43.7% saying Europe offers the best macroeconomic environment for private equity investing this year.

More positively, investors' long-term commitment to private equity remains strong. Over 30% of investors plan to allocate 21-50% of their portfolios to the asset class, and 7.5% intend to invest more than half their portfolios.

In a sign of growing uncertainty around traditional private equity exit routes, Secondaries continue to gain popularity among investors, with 45.8% expecting the strategy to perform best, almost matching enthusiasm for traditional mid-market buyouts (51.2%).

Sector sentiment is heavily focused on technology and software (65.7%), and defence (56.2%), with healthcare and biotech following closely.

Four fifths (79.4%) of respondents had made private market investments over the past year, and just over 55.3% plan new investments in the coming 12 months. Over 30% remain undecided.

Investors largely expected private markets to roughly equal or better public market performance over the next 1-3 years (37.7% and 46.9%, respectively), but felt constrained in the short term by concerns over slower distributions, uncertain future returns and the macro environment.

Over 42% of investors thought deal making would remain at 2024 levels, while 39% also thought exits would remain roughly the same in 2025. Almost a quarter were concerned about high entry valuations (24.3%).

Economic expectations were generally pessimistic, with only 4% having a positive outlook. Meanwhile, 13% had ‘very negative’ expectations, and 30.9% maintained a neutral stance.

Steffen Pauls, Co-CEO and founder at Moonfare, said: "Investors are clearly recalibrating their shorter-term expectations in response to the expected impact of the new US administration's policy direction. The combination of trade tensions and geopolitical uncertainty has generated near-term caution, though investors still recognise the underlying strength of private market opportunities."

The survey of 175 Moonfare investors was carried out in Q1 2025. Click here for more detail.