Investing in America

Private equity and private credit build better businesses across America, directly employ millions of workers, and deliver the strongest returns to support the retirements of millions of workers.

13.3 M

Employees at Private Equity-Backed Companies

32,041

Private Equity-Backed Businesses Since 2017

34 M

Americans Depend on Private Equity to Support Their Retirements

What Does Private Investment Do?

Powering Small Business

Small businesses are the lifeblood of local communities. They enrich our cities and towns with culinary delights, fresh ideas, and disruptive thinking. They also serve as ladders for socioeconomic mobility, allowing anyone with a good idea, hard work, and a bit of luck to achieve the American dream. In 2024, 85 percent of all private equity investments went to support small businesses with fewer than 500 employees. These investments play a critical role in ensuring small businesses are making a resilient comeback after the challenges faced from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Empowering Workers

Private equity-backed businesses are offering workers ownership in their companies, strong benefits, and the opportunity to build wealth for their families. Learn more here about how private equity benefits workers, drives innovation, and invests across America.

Providing Alternative Lending

Small and medium-sized businesses depend on two main sources of outside funding: credit and equity. Private credit, like private equity, helps strengthen and scale businesses of all sizes. But instead of owning part of a company, as private equity funds do, private credit loans provide an alternative to traditional bank lending and can be tailored to the specific needs of the borrower. Private credit has experienced remarkable growth in the U.S., soaring from less than $400 billion in assets under management in 2012 to $1 trillion by 2021. Approximately $500 billion has been invested in more than 3,600 businesses across America.

Improving Health Care

Private equity plays a critical role in supporting quality, affordable, accessible health care in the United States. Private equity invested more than $206 billion in U.S. health care throughout 2021 to fund research into deadly diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, expand and renovate facilities, modernize medical records and health care data, and make other needed investments.

Where does private equity invest?

13.3 million Americans are directly employed by private equity

In 2021, private equity invested over a $1 trillion in the U.S. economy

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How does private investment strengthen retirements?

Private Equity Helps Diversify Pensions

As part of a diversified investment portfolio, private equity is consistently the highest returning asset class for public pensions, delivering median annualized returns of 15 percent over a 10-year period. More than 34 million American public servants depend on private equity, while 89 percent of public pension funds invest in private equity.

Read testimonials from public pension fund officials, statements from members of Congress, studies from economists, and recent pension fund returns showing how private equity outperforms other asset classes.

Policymakers Praise Private Investment

Private investment is supporting businesses in every state and Congressional district in the U.S. Hear directly from elected officials from both sides of the aisle about how private investment supports businesses, workers, and public pension beneficiaries in their states and districts.

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These are the Builders

Get the facts and hear real stories about how private equity is building better businesses, supporting workers, and strengthening retirements across America. The American Investment Council compiled widely accepted data, studies, and examples showing how of private equity invests in small businesses, improves health care, supports workers, and strengthens retirement for millions of pension beneficiaries in all 50 states.

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