Private Equity Global Investor 150

This ranking is based on the fair value of investors’ private equity investment portfolios, both through third-party managed investment vehicles and direct investments. This fair value is measured at a single point in time for all investors to provide an apples-to-apples comparison: for the 2026 ranking, this is 31 December 2025.

This is a ranking of capital allocators and excludes assets managed on behalf of third-party investors.

Private Equity International’s Research & Analytics team will seek to communicate directly by phone and email with investors to find out the total value of their private equity investments. In the absence of primary data, the team will gather information from secondary sources and seek to validate the researched figure with the investors themselves before we publish the final list. We do not disclose which institutions have provided information on a primary basis.

For further clarification, please contact Atheetha Bani – atheetha.b@pei.group

For the purpose of this ranking, the definition of private equity is capital committed by investors to a dedicated programme of investing into private, unlisted companies. This includes capital for strategies such as buyouts, growth equity, venture capital and turnaround or control-orientated distressed investments. Investments are measured at fair value or NAV.

Capital invested through the following structures is included:
– Funds and fund of funds managed by a third party (both closed-end and open-end)
– Direct investments (equity invested into private companies)
– Co-investment vehicles
– Separately managed accounts
– Joint ventures

• Non-proprietary capital: this is a ranking of capital allocators and we do not include capital raised or managed on behalf of third-party investors. However, specialist asset managers with full discretionary management of public pension portfolios are considered for the purposes of this ranking.
• Uncalled capital: this ranking excludes any capital that has been committed but not yet been called by a fund manager.
• Debt investments: any direct or indirect investments in the debt of private companies is excluded, including mezzanine or preferred equity strategies.
• Expected commitments: we do not count pending or future commitments, or the uncommitted portion of an institution’s target allocation.
• Public markets investments: any investments in listed vehicles, or direct investments in listed stocks.
• Hedge funds: these primarily target liquid securities or trading strategies.
• Real estate: investments made either directly or through funds in property.
• Infrastructure: investments made either directly or indirectly into infrastructure assets, such as roads, airports, energy grids or solar or wind farms.
• Natural resources: investments made either directly or through funds into natural resources assets, such as agriculture or timberland.

Where investments are made in what may be termed a ‘grey area’, we reserve the right to make a final judgment based on applicability according to our definition.

While fundraising conditions may be less than perfect, it would appear institutional investors have not stepped back from private equity. On the contrary: they continue to regard it as something of a safe haven for their capital, allocating a record amount to the asset class in 2024.

With a number of big-name LPs choosing to tamp down their PE exposure over the last few years, you could be forgiven for assuming the investment landscape must be relatively barren. However, the GI 150 Private Equity International’s annual ranking of the world’s largest private equity investors – has proven this not to be the case.

The bumpy fundraising environment is front of mind for most market participants. And yet, in spite of uncertain conditions, 2023’s GI 100 shows that investors’ appetites for the asset class have not abated. The full list of LPs allocated $2.12 trillion to private equity last year – an increase of more than 18 percent from the previous year’s ranking – and needed to have a PE portfolio worth at least $5.8 billion to make the list at all.

The world’s top 100 investors allocated a total of $1.79 trillion to private equity in 2021 – a massive 49 percent leap from the previous year’s figure of $1.2 trillion. The exposures of these firms also grew appreciably, with an average of 15.3 percent of the top 10’s portfolios allocated to the asset class (up from 13 percent last year). One thing’s for sure: even if public markets are struggling, investment appetite within PE has not yet abated.

Our 2021 ranking represents $1.2 trillion invested in the asset class – a 20 percent jump on the prior year – a sign that institutional investors continue to be hungry for private equity. This year we welcome 16 new entrants to the list, including three investors from outside North America.

The 2020 ranking features institutions with a combined $1 trillion invested in the asset class and also includes a “ranking within a ranking”, highlighting investors’ exposure to private equity not only by dollar value but by percentage of overall investment portfolio.