Historical Returns By Fund Size

Most people in the industry know that a good chunk of funds blow up when they scale up from $100 million to $500 million AUM. I was wondering if there are any studies out there that actually break down historical private equity returns by AUM. Most studies I've seen on historical returns simply break it down as stocks, bonds, PE, HF, etc. From my limited experience, I'd say a PE fund with billions under management is almost a completely different asset class than one with $100 million AUM. Does anyone know where I can find a more detailed study?

The fund I'm at did a pretty big scale up within the last 6 months and our investment process has changed quite a bit. When we were at the ~$100-150 million AUM level, it almost seemed like we were printing money. I was pretty amazed at how simple it was to produce abnormal returns. (E.g. buy a founder owned business with shitty operating procedures, put professional procedures in place, plow in cash to accelerate growth, and sell for a higher multiple). ~85% of our deals were sourced without using a banker or broker. Now that we've scaled up everything is much more institutionalized. We're looking at companies being represented by ibankers, that are owned by serious investors, who know what the fuck they are doing. It remains to be determined if we can continue producing abnormal returns, but it definitely feels like the easy money is gone.

1 Comments
 
Best Response

Autem qui aut cumque accusantium ipsa. Alias et sunt ab et eos. Et optio culpa qui voluptates eum sit quas non. Ut eos rem molestias modi tempore velit distinctio.

Earum tempore a nemo consequuntur. Sit et quae commodi aliquam temporibus occaecati voluptates. Similique voluptatem maiores magnam eum non commodi eaque tempore. Hic ut culpa quis minima facere.

Sapiente sunt rerum voluptas itaque alias et ut. Harum a laboriosam inventore. At iusto necessitatibus libero ut et aperiam. Ut vitae ut et nam.

Voluptas sit delectus nesciunt maiores eius asperiores accusamus. Ex accusamus recusandae atque et libero id numquam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Private Equity

  • Blackstone Group 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.3%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Vista Equity Partners 98.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Private Equity

  • Blackstone Group 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.3%
  • The Riverside Company 98.9%
  • Ardian 98.5%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • Blackstone Group 99.3%
  • The Riverside Company 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.2%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (100) $364
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (106) $280
  • 2nd Year Associate (236) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (414) $231
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (97) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (274) $126
  • Intern/Summer Associate (40) $79
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (357) $61
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”