The SEC’s mission is to facilitate efficient markets, allow for the formation of capital and protect investors. It is important to consider the dichotomy, however, between capital formation in private markets and the protection of investors. By taking steps to improve access for retail investors to the private funds industry, the Commission must grapple with whether sufficient safeguards will exist to allow those investors to thrive. There is also concern that improving access to private markets will come at the expense of the public markets, including retail investor participation in passively managed index funds that were developed to safely offer diverse exposure to the capital markets. Those issues and more were addressed at an SEC conference on Emerging Trends in Asset Management, which featured a panel entitled “Retail Access to Private Markets” that was moderated by Yana Morris, chief content officer at ION Analytics, and featured William W. Clayton, professor at BYU Law School; James Hannigan, managing director at Apollo Global Management; Mark Robillard, vice president, alternative investments research at Fidelity Investments; and Ben Schiffrin, director of securities policy at Better Markets. This article summarizes key takeaways from the panelists’ debate about the merits of improving retail investors’ access to private markets. See “PE Industry in 2025: Trends in LPA Negotiations, Retailization Efforts and Compliance Practices (Part Two of Two)” (Jan. 23, 2025).