Financials generated the strongest one-year returns in US private equity during 2025, outperforming the broader buyout market, while information technology led returns across overseas buyout markets, according to new benchmark data published by HarbourVest Partners.
The financials sector delivered a 19.2% return in US private equity last year according to HarbourVest Private Equity Benchmarks, compared with an aggregate return of 8.4% across US buyout.
Outside the US, information technology was the strongest-performing sector, returning 23.1% in global ex-US buyouts and 20.8% in Europe buyouts during 2025.
HarbourVest says it built its benchmarks using data from 66,000 underlying private equity and venture capital transactions, representing more than $3.8tn of capital invested collectively as of December 31, 2025.
Sofia Gertsberg, managing director and head of quantitative investment science at HarbourVest, said, “In 2025, financials benefited from favorable interest rate dynamics, resilient earnings growth, and continued consolidation opportunities across a range of subsectors in the US.
“Shining a light on sector exposures in our benchmarks helps explain differences in long-term return patterns between private and public equity markets and provides investors with greater visibility into the underlying drivers of private equity returns.”
Over longer investment periods, IT recorded the highest ten-year returns for US and global buyouts, while industrials was Europe’s strongest-performing sector over the same timeframe.
By contrast, the consumer sector trailed the aggregate benchmarks across most one-, five- and ten-year return periods.
Within IT, software and services generated an annualised return of 22.7% over the past decade, making it the strongest-performing industry over the ten-year period.
Other notable industry-level performers over the past decade included insurance at 21.6%, telecommunication services at 21.4%, capital goods at 20.7% and commercial and professional services at 20.4%.
Over the one-year period, technology hardware and equipment produced returns of 36.2%, compared with 12.2% for the global buyouts aggregate benchmark.
Scott Voss, chief market strategist at HarbourVest Partners, said, “Despite the strong performance from technology, the next chapter for private markets will require investors to look beyond sector labels and ask what is durable underneath.
“Software has been one of the most durable value-creation engines in private equity, as reflected in past performance, but AI is changing the underwriting question from whether software is attractive, to which software assets gain or lose value in the face of AI disruption?”
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