Private equity returned an annualized 11.2% for the 10-year period ended Dec. 31, down from 12% in the for the 10-year period ended Sept. 30, while public equity returns increased during the same period, according to a report released Thursday by the American Investment Council, a private equity trade group formerly known as the Private Equity Growth Capital Council.
The Russell 3000 index's total return grew to an annualized 7.4% for the 10 years ended Dec. 30 from 6.9% for the 10 years ended Sept. 30, and the S&P 500 index's total return was up to 7.3% from 6.8% in the same periods.
Private equity returns in shorter periods also fell. The private equity return fell to 5.9% for the 12 months ended Dec. 31 from 7.7% for the year ended Sept. 30. By comparison, the Russell 3000 was flat with a 0.5% return for the year ended Dec. 31 and Sept. 30, and the S&P 500 returned 1.4%, up from 0.6%, for the respective periods.
Private equity returned an annualized 12.7% for the five years ended Dec. 31, down from 14.4% for the five years ended Sept. 30; while the Russell 3000 return also dropped to 12.2% from 13.3% and the S&P 500 fell to 12.6% from 13.3% in the same periods.
The private equity returns are based on the medians of the BISON Private Equity Benchmark, Cambridge Associates U.S. Private Equity index (excluding venture capital), CepreX North America PE index (excluding venture capital), ILPA U.S. Private Equity index (excluding venture capital) and State Street U.S. Private Equity index (buyout + private debt, ex VC).