Data sourced from Joe, the private fund performance platform powered by Dakota. Learn More | Request Access
In March 2026, S&P Global, Cambridge Associates, and Mercer launched a new set of private markets performance datasets covering private credit and real assets, the latest expansion of a distribution arrangement that already routes Cambridge Associates' benchmarks exclusively through S&P Dow Jones Indices. For a firm that wants a Cambridge Associates benchmark, that means going through S&P DJI's online store, purchasing individual quarterly reports one index family at a time.
That distribution model reflects something structural about how Cambridge Associates benchmarks are built in the first place: Cambridge Associates collects fund financials directly from general partners, then hands off only anonymous, aggregated data to its distribution partners. Even S&P DJI and Refinitiv, the platforms actually selling the reports, never see a named, individual fund. If what you need is one specific fund's own track record rather than an aggregate index value, that's not a question Cambridge Associates benchmarks are built to answer, at any price.
In this article, we're looking at why teams search for a Cambridge Associates alternative right now, and how Joe, Powered by Dakota compares directly.
What Cambridge Associates Does Well
Cambridge Associates has spent nearly 50 years building institutional-quality portfolios for endowments, foundations, and pensions, and its private investment benchmarks are among the most widely cited reference indices in the industry. Data is sourced directly from the quarterly and annual financial statements fund managers provide their own LPs, covering five index families: venture capital, private equity, private equity and venture capital aggregated, private credit, and real assets. For a firm that needs a defensible, industry-standard reference point to measure a manager against, that pedigree carries real weight in an investment committee meeting.
Why Teams Look for a Cambridge Associates Alternative
The data is anonymized at the source, not just at the point of distribution. Cambridge Associates benchmarks report an aggregate index value for a vintage-year and strategy cohort. There's no version of the product, at any access tier, that surfaces a specific, named fund's own performance.
Reports are sold individually through S&P DJI's online store, by index family and by quarter. Pulling coverage across multiple strategies, regions, and vintage cuts means purchasing multiple separate reports rather than one connected dataset.
Coverage stops at five index families. There's no hedge fund benchmarking, no evergreen or interval fund coverage, and no GP and sponsor intelligence, portfolio company data, or transaction tracking layered on top of the performance numbers.
Access requires attesting to professional-client or institutional-investor status under a MiFID-style eligibility gate before you can even see pricing, which adds friction for a team that just wants to compare data sources before committing.
See a different approach to fund data: request access to Joe, Powered by Dakota.
What Joe, Powered by Dakota, Does
Joe, Powered by Dakota, is a private markets intelligence and performance platform built for institutional investors and investment professionals. It brings together fund performance, custom benchmarking, GP and sponsor intelligence, funds in market, portfolio company data, private company transactions, and market news in one connected platform.
Joe provides performance data for more than 18,000 named funds and vehicles, including Net IRR, TVPI, DPI, and RVPI for closed-end private market funds. Joe also includes returns for hedge funds, evergreen funds, and semi-liquid alternatives.
Users can evaluate individual fund performance, analyze a manager's track record across fund vintages, and build custom peer groups by strategy, vintage year, geography, fund size, and other relevant criteria. Joe also enables users to identify funds currently raising capital and evaluate them alongside manager histories, investment strategies, portfolio companies, transaction activity, and allocator relationships.
Every record is reviewed by Joe's research team, structured consistently, and updated in real time as new information becomes available. Users can search, compare, benchmark, and export data through the Joe platform, with additional access through API, MCP, and AI connectors.
Joe is available for $9,500 per year for up to five users, with transparent pricing and a straightforward purchasing process.
Best for: investment consultants, endowments and foundations, family offices, RIAs, institutional allocators, CIOs, secondaries investors, and GP investor relations teams conducting manager diligence, evaluating named-fund performance, benchmarking track records, and identifying funds currently raising capital.
Joe, Powered by Dakota vs. Cambridge Associates
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Joe, Powered by Dakota
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Cambridge Associates
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Pricing
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$9,500/year for up to 5 users, published
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Sold per report, by index family and quarter, through S&P DJI
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Sales Process
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No quote required
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Requires professional-client / institutional-investor attestation
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Data Approach
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Named, fund-level performance
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Anonymized at the source; aggregate index values only
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Distribution
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Direct through Joe
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Exclusively via S&P Dow Jones Indices (and Refinitiv/LSEG)
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Coverage
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18,000+ funds, seven asset classes, GP intelligence & transactions
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Five index families; no hedge funds, evergreen funds, GP intelligence, or transactions
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See Joe for Yourself
If what you actually need is a specific fund's named track record rather than an aggregate index value, and a price you can see before you talk to anyone, Joe was built for that exact gap.
Request access and see how it compares against your current Cambridge Associates benchmark subscription.
