Private equity remains the largest and most influential segment of the alternative asset management industry. As of mid-2025, the top 50 PE firms by assets under management control trillions of dollars in committed capital across buyout, growth, and special situations strategies. This ranking draws on our proprietary database of 2,035 private equity managers globally.
The concentration of assets at the top continues to intensify. The largest managers have built multi-strategy platforms spanning private equity, credit, real estate, and infrastructure. Geographic distribution skews heavily toward North America, with United States: 1280 firms, null: 627 firms, US: 56 firms, United Kingdom: 17 firms, Canada: 13 firms, UK: 6 firms, Germany: 4 firms, Luxembourg: 2 firms among the AUM-ranked universe.
Fund performance data from pension fund disclosures provides unique insight into actual LP returns. The average net IRR across our PE fund performance database stands at 12.0%, though this varies significantly by vintage year, fund size, and strategy sub-type.