How do you turn a seven-figure deal out of college into a lifetime plan?

Private credit and private equity are exploding in popularity—but among athletes and other newly wealthy individuals, the long-term structural consequences often go unnoticed, forcing advisors to play educator and risk translator.

Over the past 15 years, private credit has grown nearly tenfold, now exceeding $1.5 trillion in assets under management and on track to reach $3 trillion by 2028. When factoring in undeployed capital, some estimates indicate the market may already be there. As banks pulled back after the financial crisis, funds filled the void, offering borrowers greater flexibility and promising higher yields to investors. But beneath those returns lie structural trade-offs that too often go unnoticed.

That gap in understanding is becoming increasingly evident. Jacob Turner, partner at Moment Private Wealth, says investors are drawn in by the prospect of diversification, but rarely grasp what they’re locking into. Once committed, they face limited liquidity, unpredictable capital calls, and complex tax implications, especially when investments sit in taxable accounts.

“The biggest thing to consider is the role that liquidity plays,” Turner says. “If we’re investing in a private credit fund paying out seven to ten percent in ordinary income, that can have real consequences in a taxable account.”

Turner’s job isn’t just about returns—it’s about helping clients see how these assets fit into their overall financial picture, including estate planning, taxes, business transitions, and short peak earning years. For athletes, the real challenge is matching risk to lifestyle needs over a much longer time.

The evolving demands of wealth management

Gone are the days when advisors simply picked stocks and mutual funds. Turner says today’s clients expect a much broader set of deliverables like real-time financial visibility, cash flow modeling, entity structuring, and estate transfer planning.

“Clients are demanding more, and I think they should be demanding more,” Turner says. “We’re trying to always give them up-to-date numbers on their entire financial picture.”

This often includes guidance on business finances and legacy planning, helping clients determine how much capital should stay in an operating company versus be reinvested, or how best to transfer wealth through generations.

“Estate planning, how does this money track towards the next generation? What should I be thinking about in terms of how the money is structured from one trust to the next trust?” Turner says.

That conversation becomes even more nuanced when the client is an athlete, someone whose earning years are compressed and inverted. Turner says these clients often go from zero to seven figures in their early 20s, before they’ve even encountered major life expenses.

“It’s this really big tug of war of saying; how much risk can we take versus how much risk should we take?” Turner explains.

To ensure long-term financial stability, he pushes athlete clients to develop income beyond their investment portfolios. “Whether it's $50,000 or $100,000 a year, that can be a meaningful gap-filler between lifestyle and portfolio drawdowns.”

The human edge in an AI-driven future

While automation is gaining traction across back-office functions, Turner believes the core value of advice is still deeply human.

“I think you’d be naive to stick your head in the sand and say that AI is not going to continue to change everything around us,” he says. “But I think there’s a connection point there, that somebody’s actually relaying the information.”

He likens the AI moment to the rise of Google. The information has always been out there; what clients want is guidance on how to apply it. “Oftentimes it's helpful to have a human there to be able to bounce ideas off of and kind of battle test those different ideas,” Turner says.

In an environment still shaped by last year’s banking volatility, Turner adds that safety and trust are more important than ever. Clients aren’t just asking what they’re invested in, they’re asking who’s holding their money and how it’s being protected.

“It’s our job, from the advisor side, to articulate to clients why we’re potentially using a technology, how it’s benefiting them, but also how it’s protecting them,” he says.