As the discussion around semiliquid funds and the spate of heightened redemption requests garners news attention, asset managers and fund companies are navigating the best ways to offer investors access to private markets. Funds offering limited liquidity and exposure to private assets passed $530 billion at the close of 2025, a more than $100 billion increase from 2024. For semiliquid funds—sometimes called evergreen funds—net assets have increased 60% since 2022, thanks to growing interest in private credit and private equity. “Private asset semiliquid strategies promise investors the right to transact at net asset value,“ says Morningstar principal Jack Shannon. ”In exchange for that right, they can only buy and sell at certain times of the year and for certain amounts. … Investors looking for private market exposure via semiliquid vehicles cannot ignore how a fund manages liquidity; it should be one of their main due diligence points of focus.”For these reasons, investor education is key to making the most of this space. That’s where Morningstar comes in. Morningstar’s Evergreen Fund Landscape report analyzes this landscape, including semiliquid fund structures, vehicles and asset classes, fees, and more. And the Morningstar Medalist Ratings for Semiliquid Funds can help take the guesswork out of understanding these funds.What Are Semiliquid Funds?Morningstar senior principal Jason Kephart explains that semiliquid funds are “registered funds that provide less-than-daily liquidity to investors and typically invest in illiquid asset classes like private credit and private equity.” Semiliquid funds help provide access to these assets, which would otherwise be inaccessible for investors.Kephart also notes that semiliquid funds come in various structures, such as interval funds, tender-offer funds, nontraded business-development companies, and nontraded real estate investment trusts. These funds are generally easy to invest in if you have a financial advisor, but they restrict how much investors can withdraw. Most allow redemptions of up to 5% of the fund’s net assets per quarter, though the specific limits and timing can vary by fund manager. These restrictions are intended to prevent managers from having to sell illiquid assets at unfavorable times and prices, but they can also result in investors being unable to access some, even most, of their money for extended periods.In the articles below, we share our latest perspectives on semiliquid funds and how to use them in a portfolio.What to Know Before Investing in Private MarketsWhile semiliquid funds might aim to make private markets more accessible, they don’t always make them more affordable—or understandable.Using Morningstar’s research, investors and advisors can sort through the noise and make informed decisions about how to invest in this growing field.Interval Funds: Benefits and RisksInterval funds are one of the most common types of semiliquid funds. These vehicles combine features of both open- and closed-end fund structures, says Morningstar principal Brian Moriarty. They offer regular investors and advisors access to assets and strategies that would otherwise be out of their reach. As bond and equity issuance shifts from public to private markets, the opportunities available to public-only strategies (most mutual funds and exchange-traded funds) are not meaningfully growing—and in some cases, they’re shrinking. Being able to invest across both public and private markets in a single vehicle raises the opportunity set available to both asset managers and investors. Investors can purchase interval fund shares any day the market is open, but they have limited freedom to sell them. This limitation, however, grants interval funds a key strength: the ability to invest in assets with significant long-term return potential but that are too illiquid for mutual funds or ETFs. Interval fund fees may be competitive, if not cheap, compared with most private equity or credit funds, which may levy as much as a 2% annual asset-based charge and take 20% of the profits. Still, their fees are high relative to ETFs and open-end funds.The Morningstar Medalist Rating for Semiliquid FundsIn May 2025, Morningstar introduced the Morningstar Medalist Rating for Semiliquid Funds, applying Morningstar’s Medalist Rating framework to the growing segment of semiliquid investment vehicles. The rating expands the Morningstar Medalist Rating to a range of vehicles with limited liquidity and/or exposure to private market assets, including interval funds, tender-offer funds, nontraded real estate investment trusts, and nontraded business-development companies. It covers a wide range of funds in the United States, as well as European long-term investment funds, United Kingdom long-term asset funds, and certain Australia-domiciled managed investment schemes. The methodology is tailored to account for the distinct structures, liquidity constraints, and potential private asset exposures of semiliquid vehicles. Ratings use Morningstar’s five-tier scale—Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral, and Negative—to express conviction in a strategy’s potential to outperform over the long term, while also guiding investors and selectors with insights on a strategy’s role in the portfolio, risks, and potential outcomes across varying market conditions. Here’s a recap of our first ratings.