Download PitchBook’s Report here.
Global PE funds posted a quarterly record in the first quarter, returning 17.6%, according to PitchBook’s latest Global Funds Performance Report. Very active capital markets are helping boost quarterly return numbers to historical highs. Preliminary Q2 returns show some deceleration, estimated at 8.8%, but still well above PE’s five-year quarterly average. Mega-funds of $5 billion or more have shown the most resilience through the pandemic. Collectively, their rolling one-year horizon IRR was 56.8% in Q1 compared to 47.6% for the entire industry. Underperforming by almost half is the sub-$500M PE fund market, which hit a rolling one-year IRR of 23.9%.
(Past performance is no guarantee of future results.)
Latest news
Q2'26 BDC analysis shows additional 184 bps of nonaccruals at cost
In a universe of 173 business development companies, or BDCs, Octus identified a total of $9.5 billion of debt (at cost) in nonaccrual status reported in the second quarter of 2026, a slight decline of 5% from $10 billion in the first quarter of 2026.
Reading the Board
The story changes depending on which numbers you’re counting.

Private Credit Defaults 101: Different Numbers, Different Stories
In Season 2 of Billions, Bobby Axelrod takes his lawyer Orrin Bach to an empty Yonkers racetrack in the dead of night.