Congress Returns Home to Communities Benefiting from Private Equity
Congress Returns Home to Communities Benefiting from Private Equity
As Members of Congress head back to their districts for August recess, they will see the positive impact of private equity all around them. A new recess packet from the American Investment Council illustrates how private investment, jobs, and opportunity abound in communities across the country.
Private equity is making small businesses stronger and more resilient, supporting millions of jobs. Just last year, the private equity industry in the U.S:
- Directly employed 11.7 million American workers
- Paid annual average annual salaries of approximately $73,000
- Committed 86% of all investments to small businesses with 500 workers or fewer
- Paid $218 billion in federal, state and local taxes
Private equity is powering infrastructure and green energy investments. In the past two years, private equity raised $200 billion for infrastructure projects. In 2020, private equity investment in renewable energy surged to $23.7 billion, up $5 billion from 2019. Over the past 10 years, private equity has invested over $100 billion in green energy.
Supporting quality, affordable health care in the United States is a priority for private equity. In 2020, PE firms invested over $79 billion to fund research into deadly diseases, renovate medical facilities, and modernize health care data. Private equity played a critical role in helping combat the COVID-19 pandemic, directly supporting doctors and nurses, developing diagnostic tools, and supporting every stage of the vaccine development process.
America’s retired public servants are also receiving higher returns thanks to private equity’s impressive performance. PE is the highest returning asset class for public pensions, delivering a median annualized return of 12.3% over a 10 year period.
This August recess, Members are returning to communities made stronger by billions of dollars in private equity investments.