Private equity and venture capital in ex-US developed markets and emerging markets delivered negative returns in the third quarter of 2015, but managed to outperform public markets in those regions substantially, according to Cambridge Associates.
The Cambridge Associates LLC Global ex US Developed Markets Private Equity and Venture Capital Index returned -0.6 per cent for the quarter ending September 30, 2015, as measured in US dollars. Its public market counterpart, the MSCI EAFE, fell -10.2 per cent over the same period – a much steeper decline. The Cambridge Associates LLC Emerging Markets Private Equity and Venture Capital Index posted a -4.8 per cent drop for the quarter – a sharper fall than was seen in ex US developed markets. But it still outperformed its counterpart, the MSCI Emerging Markets index, which returned -17.8 per cent.
"Low commodity prices wreaked havoc on the energy sectors in these indexes. Though energy accounts for less than 5 per cent of the ex US developed markets index, its -7 per cent return certainly contributed to the overall negative performance of the index in the third quarter of 2015," says Andrea Auerbach, Managing Director and Head of Global Private Investment Research at Cambridge Associates. "And despite negative returns in the developed and emerging indexes, each considerably surpassed the performance of its public counterpart."
