Source: Robert S. Harris, Tim Jenkinson, and Steven N. Kaplan, “How Do Private Equity Investments Perform Compared to Public Equity?” Journal of Investment Management, Vol. 14, No. 3, Third Quarter 2016, 1-24; Steve Kaplan, “What Do We Know About Private Equity Performance?” Guest Lecture at Miami Herbert Business School, January 31, 2020; Steve Kaplan, “What Do Venture Capitalists Do? How Well Have They Done?” University of Chicago Booth School of Business; FactSet; NAREIT; Refinitiv; and Aswath Damodaran.
Note: Past performance is no guarantee of future returns; All asset classes reflect 1984-2015 except for VC, which reflects 1984-2013; Return for Buyout and VC is measured by weighted average internal rate of return (IRR); All asset classes are for the U.S. except for Non-U.S. Equities and Commodities (Buyout and VC have a North American focus).