Largest Private Equity Firms by AUM: PE Firms by AUM in 2026

Private equity firms now control trillions of dollars in assets under management (AUM) globally, and the sector continues to grow rapidly. According to Preqin’s “Future of Alternatives” research, global private equity AUM is forecast to reach roughly $12 trillion by 2029, more than double its end-2023 level. AUM refers to the market value of the assets a firm manages on behalf of its investors.

There are thousands of private equity firms worldwide, but a large share of PE assets is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of mega-firms. A firm’s AUM speaks to its scale, fundraising power, and reputation in the market.

Want to know which firm sits at the top by AUM? In this article, we explore the world’s largest PE firms by assets under management and their investment strategies. Many of these firms run multiple investment divisions (real estate, credit, infrastructure, hedge funds, and so on), and some bundle assets across those units. Where possible, we focus on overall firm-wide AUM, noting which firms break out their private equity division separately.

Here’s our look at the top private equity firms in the world by assets under management at 30 June 2026, the latest quarter-end most of them have reported. Figures for 30 September 2026 start arriving in late October, with Blackstone reporting on 22 October, and CVC usually publishes its third-quarter update in November. Some alternative asset managers, like Apollo ($1.05 trillion in total AUM) and Ares ($671 billion), are larger than several firms on this list in total AUM, but most of their assets are in credit, so they are not ranked here.

Largest PE firms by AUM

Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager, with divisions spanning real estate, credit, hedge fund solutions and private equity. Its Private Equity segment had $454.2 billion in assets under management at 30 June 2026. This is a broad segment: besides corporate private equity, it includes Tactical Opportunities, Secondaries, Infrastructure and Life Sciences.

Across all its investing divisions, Blackstone’s total AUM stood at $1,346.3 billion, the largest of any alternative asset manager. It first passed $1.2 trillion in June 2025.

Blackstone’s PE division seeks out companies with untapped potential and works to improve their performance before selling them or taking them public. Its current and past private equity investments include Ancestry, Hilton Hotels, Travelport and British biscuit maker United Biscuits.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) is a global investment company that invests in private equity, credit, infrastructure and real estate. It is considered one of the pioneers of the leveraged buyout. According to its second-quarter 2026 results, KKR’s private equity business had $255 billion in assets under management at 30 June 2026, and the firm’s total AUM reached $796 billion.

One of KKR’s best-known deals is its 1986 buyout of American supermarket chain Safeway. More recent private equity investments include Canadian dental support group 123Dentist and British specialty chemicals and refrigerant gas company A-Gas.

Thoma Bravo is an American private equity firm that specialises in software and technology companies. It had about $170 billion in assets under management at 30 June 2026, which makes it one of the largest firms focused purely on private equity.

Thoma Bravo combines capital from its investors with debt to fund its buyouts. Its major deals include property management software provider RealPage and security software provider Proofpoint.

Brookfield is a Canadian multinational investment company. Its asset management arm, Brookfield Asset Management, is best known for infrastructure, renewable power and real estate, but private equity is also one of its main businesses. According to its second-quarter 2026 supplemental report, Brookfield’s private equity business had $166 billion in assets under management, while total AUM reached about $1.3 trillion.

Brookfield’s private equity arm seeks out high-quality businesses that provide essential products and services, from financial services to industrial manufacturing, and works to improve them over the long term. Brookfield traces its history back to 1899, which makes it one of the oldest firms on this list.

Founded in 1992, TPG is one of the largest alternative asset managers in the US, investing across private equity, credit, real estate and market solutions. TPG does not report a single private equity figure. Its three private equity platforms, Capital, Growth and Impact, together managed $163.6 billion at 30 June 2026 ($94.1 billion, $34.6 billion and $34.9 billion respectively). The firm’s total AUM was $326.8 billion.

TPG has invested in companies across most industries and regions. Its notable portfolio companies over the years include Airtel, Acorns and Allogene.

Carlyle Group is a global investment company that manages assets on behalf of investors in private equity, credit and investment solutions. Its Global Private Equity segment had $163 billion in assets under management at 30 June 2026, and the firm’s total AUM was $485 billion.

Carlyle’s private equity funds invest in healthcare, financial services, technology, industrials and aerospace and defence, across the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Ardian is a French investment house with a global footprint that invests in private equity, real assets and credit. Private equity is Ardian’s largest business, with $137 billion in assets under management, including its large secondaries franchise. Across all its businesses, Ardian manages or advises $200 billion. Ardian does not publish quarterly AUM figures, so these are the latest figures on its website.

Ardian’s private equity funds invest mainly in Europe and North America. In recent years, Ardian has made sustainability a central part of its strategy, with a dedicated team that works with portfolio companies on sustainability roadmaps and targets. In July 2026, Ardian announced a change in its governance, effective from 30 September 2026.

General Atlantic, founded in 1980, is a global growth equity firm that provides capital and strategic support to fast-growing companies. It had about $130 billion in assets under management across all its strategies at 30 June 2026.

General Atlantic focuses on technology, financial services, healthcare and consumer companies. Notable deals include an $870 million investment in India’s Jio Platforms in 2020 and the 2024 acquisition of Actis, a sustainable infrastructure investor, which expanded its platform beyond growth equity.

Silver Lake is one of the largest technology-focused private equity firms, alongside Thoma Bravo and Vista Equity Partners. It had about $126 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital at 30 June 2026, invested in technology and tech-enabled companies in the US and abroad.

Silver Lake’s notable portfolio companies include self-driving car company Waymo and Ant Group, the payments affiliate of China’s Alibaba. In 2026, a consortium including Silver Lake completed the acquisition of video game publisher Electronic Arts. Founded in 1999, Silver Lake is one of the oldest private equity firms dedicated to technology.

Neuberger Berman, which has used the shorter brand name “Neuberger” since April 2026, is an employee-owned global investment manager. It invests in equity, fixed income, real estate and credit, in both public and private markets. According to its firm profile, Neuberger Berman had $613 billion in total assets under management at 30 June 2026, of which $191 billion was in private markets and $121 billion in private equity.

Much of Neuberger Berman’s private equity business invests through other managers’ funds, secondaries and co-investments, rather than only through its own buyouts. The group has more than three decades of private equity experience.

Warburg Pincus is an American private equity firm with more than $105 billion in assets under management, according to its latest press releases. Warburg Pincus does not publish a figure dated 30 June 2026. Founded in 1966, it is one of the oldest firms in the private equity business.

Warburg Pincus invests in a broad range of sectors, including healthcare, industrials, financial services, technology and energy. In June 2026, together with Permira, it completed the $8.4 billion take-private of software company Clearwater Analytics.

Vista Equity Partners is a technology-focused private equity firm founded in 2000. It had $103 billion in assets under management at 30 June 2026.

Vista invests exclusively in enterprise software, data and technology businesses, mostly in North America and Europe. It identifies businesses with growth potential, acquires them and works to grow and transform them. While Vista usually invests on its own, it also teams up with other private equity firms to complete large deals.

CVC Capital Partners is a European investment firm that manages private equity, secondaries, credit and infrastructure assets. It has been listed on Euronext Amsterdam since 2024. CVC reports fee-paying assets under management rather than total AUM. According to its 2026 half-year results, its private equity business had €71.3 billion in fee-paying AUM at 30 June 2026, out of €153.2 billion for the whole firm.

CVC has been investing in private equity since 1981. Most of its investments are in Europe and North America, and it has been expanding in Asia.

How private equity firms work

Private equity firms raise funds from investors, which they call limited partners, and use the money to invest in private companies. They usually operate multiple funds through which they invest in target businesses. Apart from funds raised from investors, PE firms can also use borrowed money to allow them to make large investments where necessary.

A PE firm can invest in an existing private company or acquire a public company and take it private. They run these businesses for some time, usually three to five years, and aim to sell them at a profit, including taking them public if the opportunity arises. Private equity firms seek to produce market-beating returns for their investors.

Private equity firms charge their investors an annual management fee on the capital they manage. They also earn a share of the profits (carried interest) when they sell businesses at a profit. The traditional model is “2 and 20”: a management fee of about 2% a year and 20% of the profits above a minimum return, known as the hurdle rate.

Investors invest in private equity for various reasons. One reason is to diversify their portfolios outside traditional investment products since private equity is considered an alternative asset class. Others invest in private equity in pursuit of higher returns, since private markets have historically outperformed public markets over long periods. Results vary widely between funds, though, and the comparison depends on the period and method used. Others value the fact that private equity holdings are not priced daily, so their reported values move less than listed shares. The flip side is that your money is usually locked up for 10 years or more, with few ways to exit early.

How to invest in private equity

You can invest in private equity firms directly or indirectly. The option you choose largely depends on how deep your pockets are.

In a direct investment, you identify the private equity firms that align with your interests and contact them about joining their investor group. You may ask to join a specific investment fund operated by the PE firm.

To make a direct investment in a PE fund, you must qualify as an accredited investor. This is where it gets complicated. According to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), you must have earned more than $200,000 in each of the last two years ($300,000 with a spouse or spousal equivalent) and expect the same this year, or have a net worth of more than $1 million, excluding your main home, to be considered an accredited investor.

Aside from SEC requirements on net worth, most PE firms also have minimum investment requirements ranging from several thousand dollars to millions.

The indirect investment option is more accessible to most investors. You can invest indirectly in a PE firm through an ETF that tracks the private equity market. Private equity ETFs come in various shapes. Some invest directly in private equity firms, while others invest in private companies alongside PE firms. Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF (NYSE Arca: PSP) and ProShares Global Listed Private Equity ETF (PEX) are two examples of private equity ETFs.

A third option is to buy shares in a listed private equity firm. Several firms on this list trade on the stock market, so you can buy their shares through a regular brokerage account. Bear in mind that a PE firm’s share price reflects the fees it earns and the profits it makes as a manager, so it only gives you limited, indirect exposure to the private equity market.

Conclusion

Since the AUM figure speaks to the size and reputation of a PE firm, investors tend to be more attracted to the largest private equity firms by AUM. While there may be high barriers to investing directly in a PE firm, you can still get exposure to the private equity market more easily through an ETF or PE stock.

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