PitchBook, the premier data provider for the private and public equity markets, today released fund performance data through Q1 2020 from its stand-alone performance measurement product, PitchBook Benchmarks. The comprehensive performance data is designed to help limited partners (LPs) and general partners (GPs) better understand private market fund performance relative to broader asset classes and other PE and VC strategies. This quarter’s release marks the three-year anniversary of PitchBook’s proprietary Benchmarks product and quarterly report. To further underscore its commitment to producing the highest quality benchmarks and addressing the dire need for more timely fund performance data, PitchBook now incorporates preliminary data when at least 60% of net asset value (NAV) for all private capital funds has been captured. Beginning in this edition, preliminary Q2 2020 data is included.
The PitchBook Benchmarks PDF and Excel data packs are available for download here.
“When we launched PitchBook Benchmarks in 2017, it was our mission to build the most transparent private market benchmark report for LPs and GPs, leveraging our expansive fund performance data,” said Nizar Tarhuni, director of research & analysis at PitchBook. “Today, PitchBook has become one of the strongest benchmark providers in terms of comprehension, timeliness and transparency, and continues to innovate with client needs top of mind.”
PitchBook analyzed PE funds to evaluate performance data changes between publications of the PitchBook Benchmarks and provide transparency into the preliminary figures and the reasons behind the ever-changing nature of private market data. Below is a snapshot of the horizon IRR through Q1 2020 and prelim Q2 2020:
|
Strategy |
Q2 2020* |
Q1 2020 |
|
· Private capital |
5.48% |
-6.50% |
|
· Private equity |
8.55% |
-8.17% |
|
· Venture capital |
8.55% |
-1.30% |
|
· Real estate |
-0.78% |
0.98% |
|
· Real assets |
2.91% |
-9.26% |
|
· Private debt |
-0.15% |
-6.18% |
|
· Funds of funds |
-0.15% |
-1.81% |
|
· Secondaries |
-0.37% |
-3.29% |
|
· S&P 500 |
20.54% |
-19.60% |
|
· Russell 3000 |
22.03% |
-20.90% |
|
· Russell 2000 Growth |
30.58% |
-25.76% |
|
· Morningstar US Real Assets |
6.52% |
-10.55% |
|
· Bloomberg Barclays US |
10.18% |
-12.68% |
|
Corporate High Yield |
||
|
*For private fund strategies, these are preliminary quarterly returns. |
||
“While we don’t yet have a significant history with which to assess the impact of performance changes during different market cycles and times of heightened volatility, 2020 has provided a real-time case study to see how aggregate metrics can change as more data is added during unpredictable and anomalous periods,” said James Gelfer, senior strategist at PitchBook. “We recognize that there will always be a trade-off between providing timely reporting and the most comprehensive picture possible, but our goal is to strike the correct balance to provide investors with the most timely and reliable performance data possible.”
