At Dakota, our private fund performance data covers more than 14,000 private funds across private equity, venture capital, private credit, and real assets, enabling LPs and GPs to benchmark performance, compare vintages, and identify true outperformers. With comprehensive return data and analytics, Dakota's platform provides the tools you need to surface the strategies, managers, and vintages that have consistently delivered above-market results.
The 2015 middle market private equity vintage came together at an awkward point in the cycle. Entry multiples were elevated, leverage was easy to access, and competition for quality assets was intense. There was less room for financial engineering. Returns would have to come from underwriting discipline and operational follow-through. Against that backdrop, the funds that separated themselves tended to share a few traits. They stayed focused on areas where they had a repeatable edge. They leaned into consolidation and carve-outs. And they treated value creation as a core competency rather than a slide in the deck.
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2015 Standout Funds
Oak Hill Capital Partners IV
Oak Hill’s fourth onshore fund reflects a thematic, sector-focused approach within the North American middle market. The strategy has historically centered on building conviction around specific industry views and backing those perspectives with active ownership across commercial services, industrials, consumer, and media-related verticals. In a late-cycle environment, that kind of theme-driven sourcing can be especially valuable. When purchase prices are elevated, the margin for error narrows. Oak Hill’s model, anchored in sector insight and hands-on operational playbooks, is designed to create value through execution rather than depending primarily on multiple expansion.
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Aquiline Financial Services Fund III
Aquiline Fund III focused squarely on financial services and fintech, raising more than $1.1 billion at final close. The firm’s specialization remains a core differentiator. Financial services is a domain where regulatory complexity, distribution dynamics, and product breadth often reward deep expertise. In 2015, that focus proved particularly relevant. Certain subsectors such as insurance services, wealth management platforms, and financial infrastructure offered room for platform building and targeted add-on acquisitions. Funds with repeatable playbooks in those areas were positioned to compound value even as broader markets became less accommodating.
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Clearlake Capital Partners IV
Clearlake’s fourth flagship fund continued its operator-led model, commonly associated with its O.P.S. framework, Operations, People, Strategy. The firm has been active across software, tech-enabled services, and select industrial and consumer-adjacent businesses. When entry prices are higher, a systematic approach to operational improvement tends to play a larger role in driving outcomes. In software and recurring-revenue businesses, improvements in pricing, go-to-market efficiency, and product strategy can meaningfully enhance value. Clearlake’s structured, repeatable framework aligns well with that dynamic.
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Wynnchurch Capital Partners IV
Wynnchurch IV reflects a classic middle market industrial strategy with an emphasis on complex situations, including carve-outs and operational turnarounds across manufacturing and commercial products. Late-cycle vintages can test managers with cyclical exposure. Firms that bring experience in restructuring, procurement optimization, throughput improvement, and working capital discipline are often better positioned to manage volatility. Wynnchurch’s focus on operational execution rather than financial leverage aligns with that approach.
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Waterland Private Equity Fund VI
Waterland Fund VI represents a European buy and build strategy centered on backing strong platforms in fragmented markets and accelerating growth through disciplined add-on acquisitions. Buy and build strategies can be particularly effective when broad market multiple expansion is less certain. Scale, professionalization, and category leadership have the potential to drive multiple uplift internally. In a 2015 context, that self-help orientation offered a more controlled path to value creation than relying solely on exit conditions.
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Uncover Market Intelligence with Dakota’s Private Fund Performance Data
These five funds are a narrow slice of what can be surfaced through Dakota’s private markets dataset. Our performance coverage spans thousands of private equity, venture, private credit, and real asset vehicles, enabling institutional investors and managers to benchmark by vintage, strategy, and sector with precision.
With Dakota, LPs and GPs can:
- Compare funds by vintage year, strategy focus, and peer cohort
- Evaluate track records across different market environments
- Screen for consistent out performers using flexible performance filters
- Access integrated profiles, relationships, and market intelligence in one place
In late-cycle vintages like 2015, dispersion tends to widen. The difference between top and median quartile outcomes often comes down to underwriting discipline and execution. The ability to benchmark those outcomes with clarity is where real advantage begins.
Schedule your demo to explore more top-performing funds, compare strategies across vintages, and unlock the full power of Dakota's private markets intelligence.
