Shrinking dry powder

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Private equity’s pile of dry powder has eroded the past two years, according to PitchBook’s latest Private Market Fundraising Report. Globally, the industry has about $1.24 trillion of uninvested capital. That’s down about 18% from its 2020 peak, a little over $1.5 trillion. It’s not the only asset class to pare down its overhang—real estate dry powder is down 9.5%, real assets down 12.5%—but PE’s is the steepest drop of the group. According to the report, PE has spent down its capital much more quickly than other asset classes. In 2015, for example, PE accounted for 44% of overall capital commitments, but PE dry powder from that vintage now accounts for only 20% of total dry powder.

(Past performance is no guarantee of future results.)