52% of workplace plan participants would invest in private assets if offered

Fifty-two percent of workplace retirement plan participants say they would invest in private equity and private debt if those options were available through their plans, according to the Schroders 2026 U.S. Retirement Survey.

The share saying they would invest has risen from 45% in 2025 and 36% in 2024. Expectations for access moved with it: 42% believe private assets will be available in their workplace plans within the next five years, against 30% in 2025.

For a plan adviser weighing a private equity or private debt sleeve, the survey supplies a participant-interest number for a menu committee. The fiduciary standard that committee would apply is still the March 2026 proposal, not a final safe harbor.

Familiarity rose alongside the interest. Twenty-three percent of participants now describe themselves as very knowledgeable about private assets, nearly double the 12% who said so in 2025, and another 40% say they are somewhat knowledgeable. More than a third remain unfamiliar: 26% call themselves not too knowledgeable and 11% not at all knowledgeable.

Participant interest is rising while the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration moves to widen the investment options open to plans. In March 2026 the agency issued a proposed regulation, "Fiduciary Duties in Selecting Designated Investment Alternatives," intended to clarify how 401(k) fiduciaries can evaluate alternative investments, including cryptocurrency and private assets. On Nov. 5 the department submitted its 401(k) investment safe harbor rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget for final review, according to the federal Regulatory Information website.

PLANADVISER reported the proposal faces a harder political environment after the November midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of both the House and Senate. Congressional Democrats have argued that expanding access to alternative investments could expose retirement savers to greater risk and more complex products. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a critic of adding alternatives to defined contribution plans, could chair the Senate committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Democrats are expected to increase congressional oversight of the department's approach.

The proposed rule will not be finalized until the budget office review is complete.