Finding Opportunities in Private Markets
By: Emma Norchet, T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc.
This is an excerpt from NCPERS Fall 2025 issue of PERSist.
More firms are remaining private for longer as doing so enables them to focus on long-term growth initiatives free from some of the burdens public companies face. In fact, the number of active unicorns (private companies with USD 1 billion+ valuations) grew approximately 14x (from around 100 in 2014 to 1,463 in 2024), with 183 new unicorns created, on average, each year.1
This means significantly more opportunities to invest in private markets, and we believe there are two key reasons why institutional allocators should take a closer look: first, because private firms are increasingly finding they can achieve growth targets by staying private for longer; and second, because public markets have become very concentrated.
There are three key private equity strategies—traditional venture capital, late-stage venture/growth equity, and traditional private equity—each with distinct risk/return profiles and holding periods and exit options. In the current environment, we believe that late-stage venture/growth equity is especially attractive, offering access to opportunities arising from ongoing technological developments. These opportunities divide broadly into two types: category leaders and “blue ocean” companies, or innovators creating new markets and/or making current incumbents obsolete.
Why consider late-stage venture/growth as part of a diversified portfolio? The ongoing pattern of more companies choosing to remain private longer has made investing in private markets more compelling when looking for highgrowth tech companies. This is reflected by an increase in the number of investors seeking those opportunities as they look for ways to diversify from public markets. Private markets offer access to the next wave of innovative firms at an earlier stage, bringing the potential for greater returns.
As capital for private markets is now widely available, access (ability to invest in hypercompetitive rounds), selection, a clear differentiated value proposition as an investor for the company, and research have become essential to get into the best assets; hence the need to be supported by the right investment manager.
To read more on this topic, please see the full article at the T. Rowe Price website
© 2025 T. Rowe Price. All Rights Reserved.
Endnotes:
1Source: PitchBook.
Bio: Emma Norchet is the lead private technology investor on the Centralized Private Equity team in the U.S. Equity Division. She is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc.
Emma's investment experience began in 2014, and she has been with T. Rowe Price since 2024, beginning in the U.S. Equity Division. Prior to this, Emma was employed by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in San Francisco, where she was a member of the technology investment team focused on late-stage companies in the software, security, and infrastructure sectors. Emma also was employed at a multifamily office and early-stage venture capital fund in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Emma earned a master's degree in finance from City University of Hong Kong and a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Montreal.