Chart of the Week
Aug 22, 2025
2 MIN READ

Mid-market PE buyout has driven durable returns

Since 2007, mid-market private equity buyout funds have delivered strong returns over multiple cycles, while outperforming other areas of the private markets.
Christopher Bole
Vice President, Financial Writer

Growth of $100 invested in Q1 2007

Line chart showing growth of $100 across private market asset classes from 2007 to Q1 2025. Middle market private equity buyout funds have led performance, followed by private equity growth, buyout mega funds and venture capital, among other asset classes. In this illustration, a $100 investment in mid-market private equity buyout fund would have an ending balance of $1,058 as of March 31, 2025.
Source: Pitchbook Q3 2025 Quant Research US Market Insights, Bloomberg as of March 31, 2025.

Explore this insight and more in our 2025 Midyear Private Markets Outlook, “Follow the value, not the herd.”

  • After declining for much of the week, equity markets rallied Friday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole remarks suggested conditions “may warrant” rate cuts at the September meeting.
  • Despite the pullback, the S&P 500’s forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio remains around 22x, near a 25-year high and in the top decile of its historical average.
  • Against this backdrop, private markets—and specifically the U.S. middle market—may offer investors an alternative way to access the companies driving growth, innovation and strong returns.
  • As this week’s chart shows, middle market private equity buyout funds have outperformed other private market asset classes, including buyout megafunds which have attracted large inflows despite underperforming the broader market in recent years.

contributing authors
Christopher Bole
Vice President, Financial Writer
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