Stop Comparing Your Software Fund to an Industrial Fund. Build Your True Peer Group.

Broad quartile rankings tell you almost nothing, because they compare your fund to every fund in the same general strategy regardless of what those funds actually invest in. Dakota Benchmarks lets you filter 14,000+ private funds by asset class, strategy, vintage year, and, uniquely, by the sector and industry of the underlying portfolio companies.

Build Your Peer Group

14,000+

Private Funds

Asset Classes

Sector

Filtering, Unique

Custom

Peer Group Builder

IRR / TVPI / DPI

key metrics · quartile ranked · within your custom peer group

PE Fund Managers VC Firms Private Credit Managers Real Estate GPs LP Investment Teams

Why Generic Benchmarks Fail Investment Teams

A Broad PE Buyout Benchmark Compares You to Everyone. Which Means No One.

The problem is not the data. It is the peer group. Comparing a software-focused middle market buyout fund to an industrials-focused middle market buyout fund is comparing two fundamentally different return profiles, growth dynamics, multiple expansion environments, and exit cycles. A benchmark that lumps them together tells a GP nothing useful and tells an LP even less.

✕ Generic Industry Benchmarks

✕Broad quartile rankings group software funds with energy funds, completely different return dynamics averaged into one misleading number

✕Vintage year groupings are the only segmentation, leaving growth equity tech and value buyout manufacturing in the same "peer group"

✕LP meetings become awkward when your fund is 3rd quartile in a broad benchmark that includes strategies fundamentally unlike yours

✕Investment committee discussions lack nuance because the benchmark data doesn't distinguish the specific sectors the fund actually operates in

✓ Dakota Custom Peer Group Benchmarks

✓Filter by portfolio company sector, software, industrial, healthcare, energy, consumer, so your peer group only includes funds that actually invest in similar businesses

✓Layer multiple filters simultaneously: asset class + strategy + vintage + geography + sector, producing a peer group that reflects your actual competitive landscape

✓LP conversations become substantive: you can show exactly which funds are in your peer group, why they were selected, and where you stand

✓Investment committee reporting gains credibility when the benchmark is defensible, constructed from transparent filter criteria that LPs can examine and validate

⭐ The Feature No Other Benchmarking Tool Has

Filter by Portfolio Company Sector. The Peer Group That Actually Reflects How Your Fund Invests.

Every other benchmarking product filters by asset class, strategy, and vintage year. None of them filter by the type of company the fund actually invests in. The return profiles, multiples, and exit dynamics between a software-focused PE fund and an industrials-focused PE fund are as different as two separate asset classes. Dakota Benchmarks is the only platform that adds sector-level filtering to peer group construction, giving you a benchmark that reflects what your fund actually does.

We had always been in the second quartile of the broad middle market buyout benchmark. When we filtered to software-focused middle market buyout funds in our vintage, we moved into the first quartile. That is not spin. It is the correct comparison. Dakota Benchmarks let us show LPs the peer group that actually makes sense, and the conversation changed completely.

Managing Partner, Software-Focused PE Fund · 2019 Vintage

Available Sector Filters

Software & Technology Industrials & Manufacturing Healthcare & Life Sciences Energy & Natural Resources Consumer & Retail Financial Services Business Services Real Estate Infrastructure Media & Communications Materials & Chemicals Transportation & Logistics Agriculture & Food

Sector Filter: Software, Industrial, Healthcare, Energy, Consumer

Filter the 14,000+ fund universe by the sector of underlying portfolio companies, eliminating the noise of funds in unrelated sectors whose return profiles have nothing in common with yours.

Sub-Industry Granularity: Enterprise Software vs. Consumer Tech

Beyond broad sectors, Dakota Benchmarks supports sub-industry filtering, distinguishing enterprise software from consumer tech, business services from healthcare, upstream energy from renewables. The more specific the filter, the more meaningful the comparison.

Layered Filtering: Stack Every Dimension Simultaneously

Sector filtering stacks with every other dimension: asset class, strategy, vintage year, geography, and fund size. Build a peer group that is PE Buyout + Middle Market + Vintage 2019-2021 + North America + Software & Technology and get a benchmark that is genuinely meaningful for LP reporting.

Transparent Peer Group Construction: LPs Can See the Criteria

Every filter criterion used to construct the peer group is visible to LPs and investment committees, so they can evaluate whether the comparison is appropriate and engage substantively rather than simply accepting or rejecting a black-box number.

How the Custom Benchmark Builder Works

Build Your Peer Group in Five Filter Layers. Results in Seconds.

The Dakota Benchmarks custom builder lets investment teams construct a peer group from scratch, selecting filter criteria one layer at a time until the peer group precisely reflects the fund's actual competitive landscape.

Custom Peer Group Builder — Example: Software-Focused Middle Market Buyout, 2019 Vintage

Asset Class

Private Equity Venture Capital Private Credit Real Estate Real Assets

Strategy

Small Market Buyout Middle Market Buyout Large Market Buyout Growth Equity

Vintage Year

2016–2018 2019–2021 2022–2024

Geography

North America Europe Asia-Pacific Global

⭐ Portfolio Sector

Software & Technology Industrials Healthcare Energy Consumer

Sample Output — 47 Funds Matched Your Peer Group Criteria

1st Quartile

Thoma Bravo Fund XIV

Software Buyout · 2020 Vintage · $22.8B

Net IRR

31.2%

TVPI

2.1×

DPI

0.8×

2nd Quartile

Vista Equity Partners Fund VIII

Enterprise Software · 2019 Vintage · $16.0B

Net IRR

24.7%

TVPI

1.8×

DPI

0.6×

📌 Your fund sits here — 2nd quartile

3rd Quartile Median

Peer Group Median

47 Software-Focused MM Buyout Funds · 2019–2021

Net IRR

18.3%

TVPI

1.5×

DPI

0.4×

* Fund names and metrics above are illustrative examples. All actual benchmarks in Dakota include verified performance data for each fund in the peer group, with full filter criteria visible to users and their LPs.

Performance Metrics Available

The Metrics That Investment Committees and LPs Actually Use.

Dakota Benchmarks reports all standard private fund performance metrics, with peer group percentile rankings for each metric across your custom-filtered peer group.

IRR

Net Internal Rate of Return

The primary return metric, quartile-ranked within your custom peer group

TVPI

Total Value to Paid-In

Realized + unrealized value as a multiple of capital invested

DPI

Distributions to Paid-In

Realized returns, cash actually returned to LPs

RVPI

Residual Value to Paid-In

Unrealized NAV as a multiple of capital invested

PME

Public Market Equivalent

Return vs. equivalent public market investment, LP standard metric

Quartile

Peer Group Quartile Rank

Where your fund ranks within your custom-filtered peer group

Called%

Capital Called

Percent of committed capital drawn, for J-curve context

Vintage

Vintage-Adjusted Context

Performance adjusted for market conditions in the fund's investment period

Asset Class Coverage

14,000+ Funds Across Every Major Private Market Asset Class.

Dakota Benchmarks covers the full private markets universe, with sub-strategy breakdowns and sector filtering available within every asset class.

Private Equity

Buyout, Growth Equity & Venture

Small Market Buyout · Middle Market Buyout · Large Market Buyout · Growth Equity · Early Stage Venture · Late Stage Venture · Multi-Stage VC

Sector filter: Software, Industrial, Healthcare, Consumer + more

Private Credit

Direct Lending, Mezzanine & Opportunistic

Senior Secured Direct Lending · Unitranche · Mezzanine & Junior Debt · Opportunistic Credit · Distressed Debt · Special Situations · ABL

Sector filter: borrower industry type · vintage year · geography

Private Real Estate

Core, Core+, Value-Add & Opportunistic

Core · Core+ · Value-Add · Opportunistic · Real Estate Debt / Credit · Industrial · Multifamily · Office · Retail · Hospitality · Mixed-Use

Property type filter: industrial, multifamily, office, retail + more

Real Assets

Infrastructure, Energy & Natural Resources

Core Infrastructure · Value-Add Infrastructure · Energy Transition · Renewables · Upstream O&G · Midstream · Natural Resources · Timber & Agriculture

Sub-sector filter: renewables vs. traditional energy vs. infrastructure

Hedge Funds

Long/Short, Macro, Credit & Event-Driven

Equity Long/Short · Global Macro · Multi-Strategy · Credit / Fixed Income · Event-Driven / Merger Arb · Quantitative / Systematic · Emerging Markets

Strategy and sector filtering · AUM tier · geography

Evergreen / Interval Funds

Semi-Liquid Private Market Vehicles

Non-Traded REITs · Interval Credit Funds · Evergreen PE Vehicles · BDCs · Semi-Liquid Private Equity Structures · Multi-Asset Alternatives

Dedicated Evergreen benchmarking track available

Two Primary Audiences: One Platform

Built for Both GPs Who Report Performance and LPs Who Evaluate It.

The same benchmark data serves both sides of the LP-GP relationship, but with different purposes. GPs use it to contextualize and present performance. LPs use it to evaluate and challenge performance claims.

For GPs: Fund Managers & IR Teams

Present Performance in a Context LPs Can Actually Trust

→Build custom peer groups that reflect what your fund actually does, not the broad category it is filed under
→Show LPs exactly which funds are in your peer group and why, transparent filter criteria they can examine
→Prepare for LP meetings with data-backed answers to every performance question before it is asked
→Support annual report and ILPA reporting with defensible, standardized peer comparisons
→Track your performance trajectory across vintages to show improvement over time
→Fundraising conversations are stronger when you can show performance against a meaningful peer group that LPs respect

For LPs: Investment Teams & Allocation Professionals

Evaluate Manager Performance Against Funds That Are Actually Comparable

→Evaluate GP performance claims against an independently constructed peer group, not the benchmark the GP selected
→Build your own peer groups with your own filter criteria for each manager in your portfolio
→Compare vintage year cohorts across multiple managers in the same strategy and sector
→Identify which GPs are genuinely top-quartile in their true peer group vs. benefiting from broad peer group selection
→Support re-up decisions with performance data that reflects sector-specific market dynamics
→Investment committee presentations are more credible when LP-constructed benchmarks are used

What Investment Teams Do With Dakota Benchmarks

Six Workflows That Change How Performance Is Understood.

Peer Group Construction

Build a Sector-Specific Peer Group in Under 5 Minutes

Select asset class, strategy, vintage year, geography, and portfolio company sector and see the complete filtered fund universe with quartile rankings immediately. What used to require a consultant's quarterly report now happens interactively, on demand.

14,000+ funds · 5 filter dimensions · Results in seconds

LP Reporting

Prepare LP Reporting With Defensible Peer Comparisons

Build the peer group benchmark before the LP meeting using transparent filter criteria that LPs can examine and validate. Arrive at every quarterly and annual review with data-backed answers to performance questions, not defensive responses to benchmarks selected by the LP's consultant.

Transparent criteria · LP-reviewable peer groups · Annual report support

Due Diligence

Evaluate New Manager Performance Independently

When evaluating a manager for a new commitment, build your own sector-specific peer group for their strategy, independent of the benchmark the manager presented in their materials. See where the manager ranks when the peer group is constructed by your criteria, not theirs.

Independent peer group · LP-constructed criteria · Manager evaluation

Portfolio Monitoring

Track Vintage Year Cohorts Across Your Portfolio

Compare every fund in your portfolio against a consistent peer group benchmark, same vintage year, same strategy, same sector, to identify which managers are genuinely delivering alpha versus benefiting from favorable market conditions that lifted the entire cohort.

Vintage cohort tracking · Cross-portfolio comparison · Alpha identification

Investment Committee

Investment Committee Presentations: Data-Backed Narrative

Investment committee discussions about fund performance have more traction when the benchmark is sector-specific and defensible. Present performance in the context of funds that actually invested in similar businesses, with transparent filter criteria that committee members can evaluate and challenge.

Sector-specific · Defensible criteria · Committee-grade rigor

Fundraising

Show Performance in Context LPs Respect

When raising capital, the peer group benchmark you present is as important as the performance number itself. LPs who see a sector-specific, vintage-adjusted, geographically appropriate peer group with visible filter criteria engage differently than LPs who see a broad quartile ranking.

Fundraising context · LP-credible peer groups · Data-backed positioning

Why Sector-Specific Benchmarking Changes the Conversation

Four Outcomes for Investment Teams That Use True Peer Group Benchmarks.

The impact of better benchmarking is measured in the quality of conversations that performance data enables, the credibility of comparisons presented, and the decisions made with more appropriate context.

Defensible: Peer Groups That LPs Can Actually Examine

LPs who can see exactly which funds are in a peer group, what filters were applied, and why those criteria are appropriate engage more substantively with the performance comparison. Transparent, sector-specific peer groups are more credible than black-box industry averages, and credibility is what changes LP decisions.

GPs who present sector-specific peer groups report that LP meetings shift from defensive to analytical, a fundamentally different conversation about performance context and value creation.

Truer

Quartile Rankings: Compared to Funds That Are Actually Similar

A fund that is 2nd quartile in a broad strategy benchmark may be 1st quartile in a sector-specific peer group, not because the performance changed, but because the comparison is now appropriate. The inverse is also true. Sector-specific benchmarking produces the correct answer, not the convenient one.

The most common discovery when GPs first run a sector-specific benchmark: their true quartile ranking is different from what they had been presenting, sometimes better, sometimes worse, always more accurate.

Faster

Preparation: LP Meeting Prep in Minutes, Not Weeks

Building a custom benchmark for an LP meeting used to require a consultant engagement, a multi-week turnaround, and a fee. Dakota Benchmarks produces the same analysis interactively in under five minutes, meaning LP meeting preparation that used to take weeks happens on the morning of the meeting if needed.

IR teams that use Dakota Benchmarks report that quarterly LP reporting preparation time is reduced by 60-80% for the performance benchmarking component specifically.

Better

Fundraising Conversations: Context That Converts

In a fundraising context, the benchmark you present shapes how LPs perceive your performance before they do their own analysis. A sector-specific, vintage-appropriate, geographically relevant peer group with visible criteria signals analytical sophistication and confidence. It changes the LP's starting point from skepticism to engagement.

The fund that walks into a first LP meeting with a sector-specific benchmark constructed from transparent criteria starts the relationship from a position of credibility that a broad industry quartile ranking cannot establish.

Get Started

Build your true peer group in under five minutes.

A Dakota Benchmarks specialist will walk you through the custom peer group builder with your actual fund strategy, vintage year, and portfolio sector, so you can see where you rank in a peer group that actually reflects how your fund invests. Most investment teams discover their quartile ranking changes when the peer group is constructed correctly.

Build Your Peer Group

Four Ways to Get Started

🌟

Build Your Peer Group Live

30-minute session with a Dakota specialist using your actual fund strategy and vintage

▶

Watch the Benchmark Builder Demo

See a sector-specific peer group constructed from scratch in under 5 minutes

📊

Explore the Fund Universe

14,000+ private funds with verified performance data across 5 asset classes

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