Washington, D.C. – March 25, 2026 – The Index Industry Association (IIA), serving as an education and advocacy organization representing independent index providers worldwide, today announced the release of its latest white paper, “Private Market Indexes: A Lens to the Markets – Bringing Public Market Tools to Private Assets.” Authored by the IIA’s CEO Kirsten Wegner with input from and in consultation with the IIA member firms, the paper explores how index-based frameworks are being extended into private markets, methodologies for this complex asset class, and the critical role of transparency, governance and independent oversight in building confidence in these emerging tools.

As capital continues to flow into private assets, investors are increasingly seeking the same analytical tools that have long supported public market investing. IIA’s members are responding to this demand with nearly half having already launched private market indexes or announced intentions to do so.

“Private markets are moving to the mainstream, becoming one of the fastest‑growing parts of global capital markets, with growing levels of investor participation and activity,” said Kirsten Wegner, CEO of the IIA. “But as exposure grows, so does the risk of opacity. This paper explains how robust indexes, benchmarks and related tools can bring greater transparency to private assets, helping investors and policymakers understand these markets more clearly and support better governance and decision‑making.”

Notable Takeaways:

• Rising Demand for Private Market Exposure: Investors are increasingly allocating to private assets as part of the broader shift to diversified return strategies.

• Emergence of Private Market Indexes: Advances in data quality, governance and methodology design are supporting the development of robust benchmarking tools.

• Importance of Transparency and Consistency: Competition among index approaches is driving innovation while reinforcing the need for clear methodologies and governance standards.

This content is part of the IIA’s ongoing mission to educate and engage the broader public about the essential role of indexes across the evolving global financial landscape. To better understand how index-based tools are expected to play a critical role in enabling scalable, transparent investment solutions within private markets, download the IIA’s full white paper here.

About the IIA

Many of the leading independent index providers in the world are members of the IIA, including Bloomberg Indices, Cboe Global Indices, the Chicago Booth Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP), China Bond Pricing Co. Ltd., China Securities Index Co. Ltd., FTSE Russell, Hang Seng Indexes, ISS-STOXX, JPX Market Innovation and Research (Tokyo Stock Exchange),  Korea Exchange, Morningstar, MSCI Inc., NASDAQ OMX, Parameta Solutions, Shenzhen Securities Information Co. Ltd., and S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC.

IIA members administer over three million indices for their clients, covering many asset classes, including equities, fixed income, and commodities. Part of the IIA’s mission is to consider ways to promote best practices for index providers, which makes it a natural supporter of appropriate and proportionate industry standards. Our members are dedicated to promoting transparency, competition, sound operational practices, intellectual property rights, education, and effective index management practices. IIA members are independent index administrators who neither trade the underlying component securities of their indices nor directly create products for investors. Moreover, our members publicly make available their methodologies and explain how their indices are created, calculated, or maintained.

For more information, visit the IIA’s website.