PEI Group reveals the world's 100 biggest private markets firms have raised $5.74 trillion in five years

PEI Group's ground-breaking Private Markets 100 report measures private equity, real estate, infrastructure, private credit and secondaries together for the first time.

LONDON, Oct. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The 100 largest private markets managers raised $5.74 trillion between 2021 and 2025, more than the annual economic output of Germany*, according to the inaugural Private Markets 100 published by PEI Group.

Blackstone heads the ranking at $356.7 billion, KKR is second at $302.2 billion and Goldman Sachs Alternatives third at $215.3 billion.

The top 10 raised $2.04 trillion between them, 35.5 percent of the total.

PEI Private Markets 100 top 10

The specialist is disappearing

PEI Group is the first business intelligence firm to provide a five-year global fundraising ranking across the five major asset classes, bringing together data from PEI's well-known industry standard rankings which investors trust and rely on.  

Measuring the five asset classes together in this way shows what separate rankings cannot: the biggest managers are no longer single asset class specialists.

Sixteen of the top 100 firms in the ranking raised money across all five strategies, and seven of the top 10 are active in all five, while a quarter of the list (25 firms) made the top 100 by being active in a single asset class.

Ares Management shows the largest shift in a single year. It raised more private credit than any other firm, moved from 10^th to fourth in real estate and from 16^th to 10^th in secondaries. Added together, that makes it the fifth-largest private markets fundraiser in the world, ahead of both Brookfield and BlackRock.

Much of the convergence is being bought rather than built. In the past two years KKR has acquired sports investor Arctos Partners, EQT has acquired secondaries firm Coller Capital for up to $3.7 billion, and Goldman Sachs has bought Industry Ventures. General Atlantic has acquired infrastructure manager Actis and BNP Paribas has completed its purchase of AXA Investment Managers.

"The industry has outgrown its own categories," said Dan Gunner, Director of Research at PEI Group. "Firms that were buyout houses 10 years ago now raise more for credit than for equity. By methodically analysing and launching the first ever PEI Private Markets 100, we are offering a complete view of the wider market which allows the industry to see the full fundraising picture like never before. This is testimony to the unmatched capability we bring in Research and Analysis, and the breadth and depth of the data we have across private markets, which stretches back over more than 15 years."

* Germany nominal GDP, 2025 $5.01trn (IMF World Economic Outlook, Oct 2025)

Notes to editors

Understanding the PEI Private Markets 100

The PEI Private Markets 100 ranks managers by capital raised for private markets funds over the five years to 31 December 2025. It consolidates PEI Group's six established asset class rankings, each compiled annually from manager submissions and validated against public filings, regulatory disclosures and fund documentation. A manager needed $18.97 billion to make the list. Figures are amounts raised, not assets under management. Where a fund invests across strategies its capital is split between rankings rather than counted twice.

View the ranking

To download the full PEI Private Markets 100 report and rankings, with additional commentary and analysis and the full breakdown by asset class, register your details.

Existing subscribers and members can access the report in full depending on their level of subscription or membership by visiting the online platform or publication site as below:

• Private Equity International
• PEI Private Credit
• PEI Infrastructure Investor 
• PEI PERE
• PEI Secondaries Investor

About PEI Group 

PEI Group is the leading global provider of business intelligence, data, indices and benchmarks, analytics, and events for private markets professionals.

Through meticulously sourced data, deep analytical expertise, and a trusted journalistic heritage, PEI delivers vital intelligence to sharpen the decision-making of more than 30,000 investors, asset managers, and service providers.

With over two decades of strong growth, PEI operates across ten asset classes including private equity, private credit, private real estate, and private infrastructure, through our portfolio of premium research platforms, membership networks, and global events.

PEI serves one hundred percent of the 50 largest firms in private markets, based on the underlying cross-asset class ranking, covering private equity, real estate, infrastructure, private credit and secondaries, with the firm size based on capital raised in last five years.

Our 500-strong team operating from eight offices, equips private market professionals with the relationships, opportunities and critical market insights they need to navigate evolving markets and achieve stronger investment outcomes.

SOURCE PEI Group