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Start-up companies have been staying in private hands for longer, opting to tap into large pools of private investor capital rather than raise money via IPO. Data for venture-capital (VC) funds shows the increased time that portfolio companies stay on the books. The weighted-average holding age of active VC investments has nearly tripled, rising from around two years in 2000 to almost six years as of Q3 2025, according to MSCI Private Capital Universe data.

Buyout and private real estate have also seen holding ages hit all-time highs as of Q3 2025, though for different reasons. For limited partners, this indicates capital is returning more slowly than it used to.