AMHERST, MA, (September 24, 2026) – CAIA Association today released The Window Narrows: Evergreen Funds and the Choice Before the Industry, a new report examining the rapid growth of evergreen funds and calling on the investment industry to strengthen the standard of care around how these vehicles are described, distributed and understood by investors.
The report examines the practices and expectations developing around evergreen structures, recognizing that their durability will depend in part on what develops around them. In the examples CAIA examines, redemption mechanisms have worked as designed. The concern is how understanding of an offering’s liquidity can change through the distribution chain, from product providers to wholesalers, advisors and ultimately investors. At each step, terminology can be simplified, creating a widening gap between how the fund is designed to operate and what the investor expects. That gap matters as evergreen funds become an increasingly important way for individual investors to access private markets.
At year-end 2025, U.S. evergreen vehicles held $534.6 billion across 548 funds, an increase of more than 25% from a year earlier, according to Morningstar and PitchBook. The firms project the market to exceed $1.1 trillion by the end of 2029. Yet much of the category is still young, with more than half of the funds in operation at year-end 2025 having launched within the preceding four years.
The Window Narrows draws on three historical precedents: non-traded REITs, hedge fund gates during the 2008 financial crisis, and the Reserve Primary Fund. Across them, it identifies a recurring pattern: liquidity expectations are set during normal conditions, tested under stress, and followed by corrective action from outside the industry. The report examines how the industry does not have to wait for that sequence to be repeated.
Among its recommendations, CAIA proposes replacing the commonly used term “semi-liquid” with “capped liquidity.” While “semi-liquid” can imply a degree of flexibility, “capped liquidity” describes the constraint an investor actually faces and remains accurate when redemption demand exceeds the capacity available.
“Language is one of the simplest places to intervene because it travels through the entire distribution chain,” said Georgina Tzanetos, Director of Content, CAIA Association. “If the constraint is clear at the beginning, it becomes much harder to lose that meaning by the time it reaches the investor.”
The report also introduces a practitioner framework for product providers, wholesalers, advisors and industry bodies, asking each to consider the responsibility it holds for carrying an accurate understanding of liquidity through the distribution chain.
Read The Window Narrows: Evergreen Funds and the Choice Before the Industry for the case for acting while conditions still give the industry a choice in what comes next.
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About CAIA Association
The CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) Association is the leading professional body for alternative investment education and credentialing. The organization supports the global investment industry by offering the CAIA Charter and a portfolio of education, research, and thought-leadership initiatives. More than 14,000 Members across 100+ countries form the world’s most energized community of alternative investment professionals dedicated to advancing professional standards and promoting better investment outcomes. Learn more at CAIA.org.
Media Contacts for CAIA Association:
Philip Nunes – pnunes@gregoryagency.com
Stephen Fishleigh – sfishleigh@gregoryagency.com