PitchBook

The private markets are complex, and sometimes funds just don’t perform as expected. 😕 For an #LP, reanalyzing with different assumptions can help—but outputs will only be as good as their inputs are. If an allocator’s model treats all private #funds the same, that’s a red flag. 🚩 Beyond unexpected fund performance, LPs face a number of other cash flow management challenges, including: 🔹The denominator effect: When part of a #portfolio decreases dramatically, diminishing the total value of the portfolio, as happened following the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and amid 2022’s market dip. 🔹Overallocation to the private markets: Portfolios aren’t distributing #capital back at the anticipated rate, creating a dilemma for #allocators that would normally fund their capital calls from new commitments with distributions. To learn about why stellar cash flow management is so important for LPs and the PitchBook tools they can leverage to create better strategies, check out our recent blog post: https://lnkd.in/dG-kgZZd

After more than a year of annualized returns in the single digits, PE funds are back globally—entering double-digit territory for the calendar year of 2023. 🗓️ Will the upward trend continue? 🤔 Preliminary Q1 2024 returns suggest so: 📈 #IRR is at a positive 2% after one quarter 📈 $5B+ megafunds reentered double digits for the first time in 5 quarters 📈 Exit activity, a driver of PE #fund performance, increased YoY—indicating the start of a thaw 📈 In recent quarters, PE firms were waiting to sell their assets in a more favorable environment—data suggests they’re doing just that To dig into fund performance data and analysis across #PE, #VC, real assets, private debt, and more, download a copy of our Q4 2023 Global Fund Performance Report: https://lnkd.in/eW6zN36V

✨No one does global manager performance scoring like us!✨ How do we know? Our Quantitative Research team built the proprietary methodology we use to identify top-performing private #capital fund managers and their strategies. 💪 Paired with our platform’s robust fund data, we can rank across historical performance of each manager’s #fund family by vintage year compared to their peers. There’s more—our Manager Performance Scores are: 🔹Built to go beyond the limitations of traditional #benchmarking techniques like IRR quartiles 🔹Designed to consider multiple funds across a strategy to provide a holistic measure of performance 🔹Transparent, easy to interpret, incorporate uncertainty, and are a breeze to compare Our league tables rank top fund families in 10 select strategies—to see who’s leading the way, download a copy of our recent report: https://lnkd.in/eTfsC2jZ

#VC funds finished out Q3 2023 in the black, notching the first positive quarterly return since 2021, according to our latest fund performance data. Meanwhile, long-anticipated rate cuts by the Federal Reserve are primed to render dealmaking more attractive. Are we on the road to recovery? 🗞 Learn more in this edition of The Weekly Pitch, along with the week’s top news and research from our team of industry-leading sources for info on the worlds of VC, #PrivateEquity and M&A.

💡 Did you know university students can now access free, on-demand PitchBook training through PitchBook Pioneer? 🧑🏫 Pioneer features a library of eLearning courses, live training workshops, and new certification offerings for students interested in #investment research and learning #PE and #VC workflows. Become a PitchBook College Ambassador today, and learn how to: 🔎 Gather industry intel 🔎 Curate a target list of companies 🔎 Compare companies and similar transactions You can even add this certification to your resume and share it with your LinkedIn network. Get started: https://lnkd.in/gSf_VV9C #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital #Investing

🎉 We’re thrilled to introduce PitchBook Pioneer certification! Learn how to maximize the power of PitchBook, whether you are an expert #investor or just getting started. ⏱️ This free, entirely self-paced learning experience is designed to help clients working in or supporting #PE and #VC. Courses include: 📚 PitchBook 101 📚 Market Analysis: Gathering Industry Intel 📚 Deal Sourcing: Curating your List of Target Companies Upon completion, you’ll receive a digital badge to promote your skills on LinkedIn. 🎓 Get certified: https://lnkd.in/gSf_VV9C

🎺 We may be tooting our own horn a little bit, but we agree—PitchBook is the toolset all LPs need, especially in today’s evolving market conditions. With instant access to game-changing features built with them in mind, we empower LPs to: ✅ Better plan #allocations across strategies ✅ Source high-caliber fund managers ✅ Contextualize #fund performance ✅ Nix uncertainty with best-in-class cash flow and commitment modeling If you’re an #LP looking to level up, explore all of our offerings created specifically for allocators here: https://lnkd.in/gmXBuQTr

A startup founded by acclaimed AI researcher Anna Patterson is raising cash to enter an industrywide quest to solve the AI chip shortage with better infrastructure. NEA is leading the deal for Ceramic, which is developing software to optimize how large language models use chips, according to three people with knowledge of the deal. The funding round is nearing a close at $10 million on a $60 million post-money valuation, one of the people said. Ceramic, which Patterson founded in early 2024, is raising a round largely to fund its research and development of an orchestration layer for graphics processing units, or GPUs, the people said. More from our news team here: https://lnkd.in/gwECfAeg

With the miles between equity rounds stretching on like a dark and winding road to nowhere, #PrivateDebt has become a lifeline for #founders running out of gas. Emerging manager Star Strong Capital's flagship direct lending fund pinpoints a potentially promising niche: floating cash flow-contingent loans to EBITDA-positive companies outside the wheelhouse of pure-play VC and PE lenders. 🗞 Learn more in this edition of The Weekly Pitch, along with the week’s top news and research from our team of industry-leading sources for info on the worlds of VC, PE and M&A.

🍎👏 After our fourth year participating in Food Lifeline's Food Frenzy competition, we raised more than $12,100 to help end hunger in Washington state. We also earned first place in the Technology sector, continuing our three-year winning streak! Huge congratulations to our #community-driven PBCares employee resource group for organizing this effort and to all PitchBook participants! Cheers to Food Lifeline for another successful Food Frenzy competition!