Fueling Growth

Private equity builds better businesses across America, directly employs millions of workers, and delivers the strongest returns to support the retirements of millions of workers. Private equity has partnered with some of the most popular brands and companies Americans patron every day — allowing these businesses to modernize, grow, and meet ever-changing consumer demands.

BUILDING BETTER BUSINESS

Private equity strengthens America’s favorite brands

13.3 M

Workers directly employed by private equity

$ 80 K

Average wages and benefits

85 %

Of PE-backed companies are small businesses

Powering Small Businesses

Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. Private equity and private credit partner with small and mid-sized businesses in every state, providing the capital, expertise, and flexibility they need to grow, hire, and compete. In 2024, 85 percent of private equity investments went to companies with fewer than 500 employees. Hear from real entrepreneurs about how private equity provides opportunity and growth through investment and expertise.

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Sunshine Beverages

Strengthening Retirements

More than 34 million American teachers, firefighters, and public servants depend on public pension funds for their retirement. Private equity has delivered the strongest long-term returns of any asset class for those pensions, helping ensure their benefits remain secure for generations to come.

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Why Public Pensions Choose Private Equity

“We advance access to capital, job creation, retirement security, innovation, and economic growth in the United States by promoting responsible, long-term investment.”
Steve Kaplan, Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship, Booth School of Business, the University of Chicago

Empowering workers

Private equity-backed companies employ 13.3 million American workers, with wages and benefits averaging $85,000. Beyond competitive pay, many firms are pioneering employee ownership programs that give workers a direct stake in the businesses they help build.

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How Private Equity Backs American Workers

Private credit: alternative lending

Private credit is a partner to small businesses

Private credit provides flexible financing to American businesses that need capital to grow, hire, and keep their doors open. Today, private credit firms have invested over $625 billion in active deals across more than 3,700 companies, supporting 2.5 million jobs.

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Improving Healthcare

Private equity is investing in better outcomes for American patients. Since 2008, the industry has invested $1.6 trillion in U.S. healthcare, expanding access to quality care, supporting rural hospitals, and funding breakthrough treatments and medical technologies.

Increasing Healthcare Access

Rural America has a profound health care deficit, and much of that problem boils down to a lack of resources: relatively few providers, less insurance coverage, and fewer health care professionals compared to urban and suburban areas. Fortunately, private equity is filling that gap by investing in urgent care providers that have identified business models that work in rural and underserved communities.

Investing Billions in Healthcare

According to data compiled by Pitchbook, 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.

Investing in Medical Technologies that Improve Lives

By partnering with companies across the life sciences spectrum, private equity provides financial support and strategic advice to develop innovative technologies and devices that benefit patients and improve lives. In the last decade alone, private equity has invested $280 billion across more than 1,800 life sciences and medical device companies in the U.S. More than 900 medical device and supply companies have been supported by private equity firms in the last 10 years.

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Cordis Revolutionizes Medical Devices

Improving Sustainability

Private equity and private credit are accelerating America’s transition to a more sustainable economy. The industry has invested billions in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, clean technology, and green infrastructure, creating jobs while building a more climate-resilient future.

Renewable Energy

Private equity has invested over $100 billion in renewable energy since 2010 and $21.5 billion in renewables in 2021 alone, including more than $6 billion in solar and wind projects.

Sustainable Food Production

Over the past decade, private equity firms have sponsored 135 agtech companies at the nexus of food production and technology, totaling nearly $5 billion in capital. A key example is private equity’s investment in soil sensors, which have helped farmers save money on water costs and enhance yields.

Cleaning Up the Planet

Private equity has a long history of investing in environmental services, including areas like waste management, recycling centers, and oilfield cleanup services. Firms invested in 142 deals and a record $17.2 billion in the environmental services sector in 2021. Over the past decade, private equity firms have sponsored 935 environmental service companies, totaling almost $100 billion in capital.

Impact Fundraising

Over the past decade, US-based impact investors have raised more than 250 funds and a combined $66 billion of available capital.

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Fueling Innovation

Private investment fuels the next generation of American breakthroughs. From life-saving therapies and medical devices to clean energy, digital infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing, private equity and private credit provide the patient capital needed to turn ideas into impact.

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Innovation That Improves Lives