Private markets are not inaccessible, just little known: Fundstore, part of the Ifigest banking group, aims to remedy this situation with Eltif 2.0. On November 18, 2025, the marketplace for funds and managed savings solutions took an important step forward in terms of retail accessibility to European Long-Term Investment Funds, thanks to the new European regulatory framework (known as ELTIF 2.0), which has made these instruments more flexible and transparent, and therefore accessible to non-institutional investors.
What are ELTIFs and what does Fundstore offer?
ELTIFs are long-term alternative funds designed to channel resources into real economy assets—SMEs, infrastructure, and innovative projects—historically reserved for professional investors. With the introduction of the ELTIF 2.0 regulation, the sector has experienced a sharp acceleration: lower entry thresholds, greater liquidity, and the emergence of evergreen vehicles now make these instruments compatible with the needs of retail investors, who became aware of private markets during the 2020 lockdown and have continued to show interest ever since, despite some (past) legislative messes. Almost all retail investors seek Eltifs for their prospective returns, explains Gianni Bizzarri, president of Banca Ifigest: “By 2030, 60% of global assets under management will be attributable to retail.”
In Italy, it is estimated that the exposure of small investors “will increase from €1 trillion in 2024 to €3.3 trillion in 2030.” ELTIFs, explains the president of Banca Ifigest, represent another piece of the puzzle when thinking about one’s future; they are the ideal product for preparing to supplement one’s own pension plan or that of one’s children.
Fundstore, “not a trading platform but an investment platform,” seizes this opportunity by offering a direct, multi-manager digital channel designed for independent access by every investor. As for ELTIFs, the current offering consists of four funds managed by four leading international asset managers: Amundi, Apollo, BlackRock, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The structure allows investors to choose between four investment profiles that differ in terms of minimum holding period and entry threshold, which starts at €1,000 and in any case does not exceed €10,000.
Why invest in ELTIFs with Fundstore?
“There are three main reasons,” explains Bizzarri. The first is the fact that you can invest from €1,000. Second, you are participating in a market that has had a significant track record. Finally, there is a 50-60% decorrelation between private markets and listed markets.
ELTIFs are an “ideal tool for accumulation and have excellent characteristics for use in pension planning. A young person can invest little by little (not only) in these markets and has a good chance of ending up with more money in retirement than they would have with a normal pension fund.”
Edoardo Bizzarri, head of business development at Fundstore: “The logic behind the selection of this catalog is that we want to cover as many preferences as possible with the smallest number of funds. Since the Eltif product is already complex in itself, we thought we would give the end investor an ‘interpretative key’ to take their first steps in this type of investment.”
The four types of funds offered, continues Edoardo Bizzarri, correspond to four combinations of holding periods and entry thresholds: “They range from the Amundi fund, with a threshold of €1,000 and quarterly exit windows, to the Blackrock fund, with €10,000 and a holding period of one year. Apollo is our vertical private debt fund, the others are multi-asset funds; all four have been chosen to maximize the preferences of retail investors. Finally, they are all evergreen, i.e., window funds that allow entry subscriptions and redemptions at predefined intervals. Management costs are competitive with the market.”
A word from the managers of Eltif Fundstore: BlackRock, Amundi Sgr, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Apollo
Focusing on tomorrow’s leading companies
Globally, listed companies account for only 12% of the total, points out GianMarco Castellani, head of wholesale at BlackRock Italia. This figure alone is enough to understand “how many opportunities are lost by staying out of private markets.” Investing in Fundstore’s ELTIFs has “three advantages. Not only diversification, but also the fact that you are focusing on tomorrow’s leaders: remember that these companies (energy and digital transition, infrastructure) express their maximum value before listing. Finally, Blackrock has the great advantage of offering scale and proximity to distributors.” The fund, launched in March 2025, is multi-alternative, designed for clients who are new to private markets: it allows them to move strategically across various assets, for example by varying their weights.
The importance of accurate product information
J.P. Morgan Asset Management is also present in Fundstore’s Eltif offering with a multi-alternative fund, adds Karim Leguel, MD & EMEA Private Market Specialist, emphasizing the importance of a cultural change among investors, to be conveyed through proper education: “We have been present in this market for over 60 years in private markets. We also do a lot of work to provide information and education on the instrument, focusing on great transparency in reporting.” The fund has a minimum entry threshold of €5,000.
Evergreen funds represent the ‘democratization’ of private market investments
Paolo Proli, co-general manager of Amundi Sgr, speaking about the PRIMA (‘PRIvate MArkets’) fund, a multi-strategy and multi-asset fund focused on the socio-climatic-digital transition and related impact investments: “The real driver of growth is impact transition, the real driver of business growth; today, there is no company that is not undergoing transition. The only obstacle to the spread of this instrument could come from compliance that is still ‘stuck’ on the old regulations and not on the new Eltif 2.0. Evergreen funds, with their fractional access, are the first real attempt to democratize this market. We believe that the democratization of this asset class also involves a direct and easy-to-use subscription method such as that offered by Fundstore.” Entry into the fund is monthly, exit is quarterly.
Private debt
Alessandro Raspa, MD & Head of Client & Product Solutions Italy at Apollo, presenting Apollo’s private debt fund: “For us, private debt is not just an asset class. It is a substantial part of our balance sheet, because we invest in it ourselves: what better alignment of interests could there be with the end investor?” It is an income fund that aims for monthly cedularity, in euros, with currency hedging.
