PitchBook Benchmarks (as of Q3 2019)

PitchBook Benchmarks leverage a differentiated data collection process that results in one of the most robust fund performance datasets in the market. Further, we're able to provide visibility into the underlying funds and metrics used to construct each benchmark. Every edition includes a range of performance statistics across PE, VC, debt, real assets, fund-of-funds and secondaries strategies. In this edition, we continue a series exploring cash flow management, focusing this time on distribution profiles across private market strategies.

Key takeaways include:
 

• Distribution rates have accelerated for every private fund strategy over the last decade, with newer vintages returning more capital earlier in the fund’s life.

 

• There are fundamental differences in distribution profiles across private market strategies. Private debt and real asset funds, which often have income-producing features, distribute and reach full liquidation more quickly than other strategies. Secondaries funds are also quick to deliver initial distributions but tend to have long tails, as they often have exposure to a multitude of underlying positions given the nature of the strategy.

 

• Distribution rates have exhibited significant cyclicality, with a high correlation to broader macroeconomic conditions. We expect this correlation to persist amid the market disruptions in the first half of 2020, leading to a slowdown in near-term distributions from the historically high levels of recent years.