The private equity industry is at a crossroads as it hopes to maintain a level of secrecy while gaining exposure to millions of retail investors.

Private equity professionals who may encourage the inclusion of defined contribution pension plans in alternative assets aren’t ready to open up to additional layers of scrutiny, experts say.

“While there is a desire to have a new source of funds from consumers, they’d rather do that without the transparency,” said Justin Miller, managing partner at Bain & Company.