Buying an ELTIF: What to Look For When Choosing

You have decided on an ELTIF, place your order in mid-October and only see the units in your securities account in December? That is the normal process with an ELTIF. An ELTIF usually has no stock exchange price. It values its assets on fixed valuation dates, and your order waits for that date. If you know this in advance, you can buy with less stress and choose a fund that better fits your own time horizon.

Why ELTIFs exist in their current form at all and what the ELTIF 2.0 reform changed for private investors is discussed by Robin and Hendrik in episode #4 of our podcast Diversify.

Buying an ELTIF at a glance

• An ELTIF is an EU fund wrapper for long-term investments in private markets.
• You buy on a valuation date. The price is set by the net asset value (NAV), which is only calculated afterwards.
• Before your first purchase there is a legally required appropriateness assessment.
• You can invest a one-off amount or set up a savings plan.
• Depending on the fund, redemptions are only possible after several years and then only to a limited extent.
• Losses up to and including total loss are possible.

What you need to know before you buy

An ELTIF (European Long-Term Investment Fund) invests in companies, loans or infrastructure away from the stock exchange. How the fund wrapper works and how it differs from an ETF is explained in our ELTIF guide. For buying, two features matter most, and both are set out in the fund documents.

The first is the holding period. It differs considerably from fund to fund. For the Redstone Global Venture ELTIF, the manager recommends ten years, and according to the prospectus a redemption is possible after around eight years at the earliest (a seven-year minimum holding period plus the notice period). The Hamilton Lane Private Market Access ELTIF, by contrast, redeems units quarterly with one month's notice and can limit redemptions to 5 per cent of fund assets per quarter (NAO FAQ). You can read how open-ended funds work with such redemption windows in our article on evergreen funds.

The second is risk. The key information document (KID) of every ELTIF states a risk class on a scale from 1 to 7. The ARK Private Innovation ELTIF and the Partners Group Private Equity Opportunities ELTIF are each in class 4. On top of that come risks that this figure only partly reflects: your money is tied up for a long time, and the valuation of the holdings can change considerably, up to the complete failure of individual investments.

How the purchase works

With ELTIFs, fund providers speak of subscription rather than purchase, because you acquire new units directly from the fund. Via NAO, the process looks like this:

• Open an account and securities account. Adults resident in Germany, Austria or the Netherlands can open an account. Your securities account is held at Baader Bank. Opening it usually takes only a few minutes, in individual cases up to two bank working days.
• Complete the appropriateness assessment. The law requires a provider to check before the purchase whether you can assess how a product works and what its risks are based on your knowledge and experience.
• Read the documents. The key information document sets out the fund's strategy, risk class, holding period and costs. Before every order, the app also shows you the cost information.
• Place your order. You can do this at any time in the app, as a one-off investment or as a savings plan.
• Wait for the valuation date. NAO bundles the orders and passes them to Baader Bank on the fund's dealing date. The fund then calculates its NAV for the valuation date.
• Units in your account. As soon as the NAV is published, your units are booked in at this value.

How long step 5 takes depends on the fund. For the Hamilton Lane ELTIF, for example, it means: an order placed in mid-October goes to the bank on 31 October, the NAV as at 28 November is determined by 19 December, and the units arrive in your account in mid to late December (NAO FAQ). For the Redstone Global Venture ELTIF, around four weeks pass after the valuation date because the holdings are valued manually.

This leads to the point that surprises first-time buyers most often: with an ELTIF, you only know the price of your units long after you have bought them. The NAV reflects the value on the valuation date, not on the day it is published. This delay is part of an asset class whose companies and loans have no daily stock exchange price.

One-off investment or savings plan

Almost all funds at NAO can also be bought via a savings plan. How often the savings plan is executed is set by the respective fund manager through its dealing dates: for the Partners Group ELTIF this is monthly, for the UBS Infrastructure Opportunities Fund quarterly. You can see the exact dates in the app under "Timeline".

With a savings plan, you spread your purchases over several valuation dates and therefore over several valuations. This does not change anything for redemptions: units bought through a savings plan are also subject to the fund's holding periods and redemption limits.

What an ELTIF costs

With an ELTIF, one-off costs may arise on purchase and sale, plus ongoing costs for management and transactions and, for some funds, a performance fee for the manager. The costs of the fund itself are set out in the key information document, and the cost information before every order shows you the full calculation including all service and distribution costs. The target return you see in the NAO app is already calculated after all fees. NAO does not charge any fees for the account and securities account. You can find details in our FAQ on fees and taxes.

What matters when choosing

Which ELTIF suits you depends on whether the fund and your own plan fit together. These questions help when reading the documents:

• Which asset class is inside? Private equity, venture capital, private credit and infrastructure earn their money in different ways and fluctuate to different degrees.
• Who manages the fund? A manager with a long track record in exactly this strategy has already been through several market phases.
• Do the redemption rules match your time horizon? Money you will need in three years does not belong in a fund with a seven-year minimum holding period.
• How broadly is the portfolio diversified? A fund with 20 holdings reacts more strongly to individual companies than a fund of funds with several hundred.

You make the decision yourself, NAO does not provide advice. Every fund in the app is hand-picked by our investment team.

The ELTIFs at NAO

As at 26 October 2026, you can invest in these ELTIFs via NAO:

• ARK Private Innovation ELTIF: holdings in late-stage growth companies, including AI and space (Private equity at NAO).
• Partners Group Private Equity Opportunities ELTIF: globally diversified private equity that mainly invests directly in private companies.
• Redstone Global Venture ELTIF: venture capital through more than eight specialised funds with over 200 start-ups (Venture capital at NAO).
• Hamilton Lane Private Market Access ELTIF: private equity and infrastructure in one fund, built through co-investments and secondaries (Multi-asset funds at NAO).
• HanseMerkur Digital Infrastructure ELTIF: fund of funds for computing and data centres (Infrastructure at NAO).
• Muzinich European Private Credit ELTIF: senior secured loans to European mid-sized companies, often family-run (Private credit at NAO).
• Tikehau European Private Credit: senior secured loans to European mid-sized companies, mainly businesses owned by private equity firms.

Holding periods and redemption dates are shown on the product pages and in the app.

ELTIFs invest long term in unlisted assets. Your capital is tied up for years, and losses up to and including total loss are possible.

FAQ

Where can I buy an ELTIF?

ELTIFs are available through banks and specialised platforms, but not every provider offers every fund. At NAO you buy ELTIFs directly in the app, and your units are held in your securities account at Baader Bank.

Can I buy an ELTIF on the stock exchange?

As a rule, no. You buy new units directly from the fund on the next valuation date, and the price is based on the NAV.

How long does it take until my ELTIF units are in my account?

Several weeks, depending on the fund. The order is passed on on the fund's dealing date, and the fund then calculates the NAV for the valuation date. With the Hamilton Lane ELTIF, around two months pass between order and booking.

Is there a minimum investment?

Many ELTIFs require five-figure minimum amounts. At NAO there is no minimum amount for the funds, and both one-off investments and savings plans are possible.

Can I sell my ELTIF at any time?

No. Depending on the fund, a minimum holding period or lock-up applies, after which redemptions are only possible on fixed dates and to a limited extent. The rules for your fund are set out in the key information document and on the product page.

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