Private Equity Performance Tracker: Q3 2025
PE vs. equities – and the winner is?
October 2025. Reading Time: 10 Minutes. Author: Nicolas Rabener.
SUMMARY
- Public equities have outperformed PE funds YTD
- However, the medium-term outlook favors PE funds
- Correlations of PE & public equities have decreased
INTRODUCTION
The private equity (“PE”) industry has expanded dramatically – from a few hundred million dollars managed by a handful of asset managers in the 1980s to more than $10 trillion today, spread across thousands of funds. Despite its significance to institutional investors, reliable and timely performance data remains scarce. Fund holdings are typically valued on a monthly or quarterly basis, with valuations often smoothed in ways that fail to capture real-time economic conditions.
To address this gap, we introduced the Finominal Private Equity Index in August 2025. The index tracks private equity funds listed on European stock exchanges, providing investors with a current, daily snapshot of private equity performance based on live market pricing (read Private Equity Without the Lag).
In this research article, we review the recent performance of private equity funds and managers versus public equities.
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT
The growth of assets under management (AUM) in private equity has been nothing short of remarkable – rising from $700 billion in 2013 to $10.3 trillion today, according to JP Morgan. That said, growth has slowed significantly since 2018. A key reason is that most institutional investors already hold substantial allocations to private equity, leaving the market relatively saturated. While there have been efforts in markets such as the U.S. to broaden access to retail investors, these face regulatory hurdles as well as reluctance from individuals to commit capital for extended lock-up periods typical for PE funds.
We also note that the share of private equity AUM relative to global equity market capitalization peaked in 2019, which is noteworthy. This can largely be explained by the surge of the so-called Magnificent 7 technology companies and the boom in AI-focused stocks, which have driven public equity markets to record highs.
