News & Analysis

Secondaries emerge as leading performer in private markets through Q1 2022

While more muted performance in Q1 2022 dragged on the high returns from 2021, the 27% overall private capital return was still far above the 10-year average of 14.5%. Private equity and venture capital one-year rolling IRRs faltered through Q1, and analysts find it unlikely that those metrics—or PE and VC’s now-negative quarterly returns—will reverse in the latter half of the year.

Meanwhile, secondaries funds landed in the top spot for rolling one-year IRR through Q1. And unlike PE and VC, the IRRs for real estate and real assets kept climbing.

Returns in the private markets, which are still at historically high levels, have also maintained their outperformance of public equities through Q1.

Our latest Global Fund Performance Report uses data through Q1 2022, as well as some preliminary Q2 figures, to provide a comprehensive look at how private market strategies have held up across PE, VC, real estate, real assets, private debt, funds of funds, and secondaries. The report also examines how strategies’ median returns could obscure wide ranges of investors’ results.