MSCI Private Capital Benchmarks Summary Q4 2024

Research Paper
Greg Kohles, Uday Karri, Keith Crouch
May 19, 2025
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Explore the latest performance insights and investment metrics from across the private markets, including buyout, venture capital, private credit, real estate, infrastructure and natural resources, through Q4 2024. Designed to inform allocation, manager-selection and fundraising conversations, this summary report leverages since-inception quarterly returns and cash flow data for over 14,500 closed-end funds globally, representing capitalization of nearly USD 12.3 trillion.
  • On performance: Across major strategies, private real assets improved in 2024 though continued to lag private credit and private equity.
  • On capital flows: Total fundraising slowed across strategies during 2024, while dry powder as a share of capitalization dipped to a decade low.
  • On cash flows: Net cash flows for private capital inched closer to breakeven in 2024, though distribution rates remained weak.
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Performance through Q4 2024
The image is a heat table, showing the returns of the major private capital strategies (equity, credit, real assets) and their subgroups. Calendar year returns and quarterly returns for 2024 are shown.
Quarterly returns are calculated in USD using the Modified Dietz method and are not annualized. Calendar-year returns represent compounded quarterly returns. Data as of Q4 2024 from the MSCI Private Capital Universe.
Keith Crouch
Keith Crouch
Executive Director, MSCI Research
Uday Karri
Uday Karri
Vice President, Private Capital Research, MSCI
Greg Kohles
Greg Kohles
Vice President, MSCI Research & Development

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