US private equity and venture capital funds had a tough first quarter in 2016, as indicated by the Cambridge Associates LLC benchmark indexes of the two alternative asset classes. The Cambridge Associates LLC US Private Equity Index® eked out a return of 0.2%; the Cambridge Associates LLC US Venture Capital Index® returned -3.3%.
The Cambridge Associates LLC Global ex US Developed Markets Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE/VC) Index returned 2.0% in USD terms in fourth quarter 2015, bringing its return for the year to 5.7%, a small improvement over 2014. The Cambridge Associates LLC Emerging Markets PE/VC Index returned 5.1% in fourth quarter and 8.5% for the year, a drop of more than 5 percentage points from its 2014 return.
The Cambridge Associates LLC benchmark indexes for US private equity and US venture capital produced modest returns for fourth quarter 2015, leading to lower calendar year performance than either index earned in the two previous years. Both benchmark indexes outperformed the public indexes for the year, but not the quarter.
Third quarter 2015 performance saw returns drop into negative territory. The Cambridge Associates LLC Global ex US Developed Markets Private Equity and Venture Capital Index returned -0.6%, and the Cambridge Associates LLC Emerging Markets Private Equity and Venture Capital Index fell to -4.8%.
While US private equity and venture capital struggled during third quarter 2015, they both outperformed the S&P 500, the Russell 2000® small-cap, and the Nasdaq Composite indexes. The third quarter return of -1.4% for the Cambridge Associates LLC US Private Equity Index® marked the benchmark’s first negative quarter in three years and the -0.4% return for the Cambridge Associates LLC US Venture Capital Index® represented that benchmark’s first down quarter since 2011.
The Cambridge Associates LLC Global ex US Developed Markets Private Equity and Venture Capital Index returned 7.6% in US$ terms in second quarter 2015; the Cambridge Associates Emerging Markets Private Equity and Venture Capital Index returned 4.4%.
US private equity and venture capital funds produced healthy results during second quarter 2015, outpacing the S&P 500, the Russell 2000® small-cap, and the Nasdaq Composite indexes. Second quarter’s 3.8% return for the Cambridge Associates LLC US Private Equity Index® marked the benchmark’s 12th straight positive quarter, while the 6.7% return for the Cambridge Associates LLC US Venture Capital Index® represented that benchmark’s 15th consecutive positive quarter.
The Cambridge Associates LLC Global ex US Developed Markets Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE/VC) Index® returned -2.8% in US$ terms in first quarter 2015; the Cambridge Associates LLC Emerging Markets Index® returned 3.1%.
US private equity and venture capital earned solid returns during first quarter 2015, outpacing the S&P 500 but trailing the Russell 2000® small-cap index. First quarter’s 2.6% return for the Cambridge Associates LLC US Private Equity Index® was an improvement over its 0.8% performance in the previous quarter while the 3.8% return for the Cambridge Associates LLC US Venture Capital Index® was a 6.1 ppt drop from results in the prior quarter.
The Cambridge Associates LLC Global ex US Developed Markets Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE/VC) Index® was virtually flat (0.1%) in US$ terms in fourth quarter 2014, bringing its return for the year to 3.5%, which was a sharp drop from the prior year. The Cambridge Associates LLC Emerging Markets PE/VC Index® returned 4.5% for the fourth quarter and 14.3% for the year.