Most benchmark providers force you into rigid, one-size-fits-all peer groups that don’t reflect how your strategy, or your portfolio, actually works. You get lumped into categories that miss the mark, and you're left making decisions based on someone else’s definitions.
Dakota Benchmarks flips that model. Built inside Dakota Marketplace, it lets you define your own peer universe and evaluate performance the way you want… by vintage year, geography, strategy, and more. It’s benchmarking, without the blind spots.
In this article, we’ll show you how Dakota Benchmarks works and why it’s changing the way private market performance is measured, analyzed, and acted on.
Want to see Dakota Benchmarks live? Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
Why Dakota Benchmarks Exists
Private markets are evolving… fast. More strategies. More segmentation. More competition. But benchmarks haven’t kept up.
Dakota Benchmarks was built to close that gap. It gives LPs, GPs, and advisors access to:
- Transparent, verified private fund performance data
- Coverage across every major private market asset class
- Benchmarks segmented by vintage, geography, and strategy
- A continuously updated, living database… no more static PDFs
Instead of being locked into someone else's framework, you get context that actually matches how your team thinks and operates.
What is Dakota Benchmarks?
Dakota Benchmarks is a private fund benchmarking database built for clarity and control. It provides institutional-grade performance insight across:
- Private Equity – Small, Middle, and Large Buyout
- Private Credit – Direct Lending, Mezzanine, Opportunistic
- Venture Capital – Early, Growth, Multi-Stage
- Private Real Estate – Core, Core+, Value-Add, Opportunistic, Credit
- Real Assets – Infrastructure, Energy, Natural Resources
Whether you’re an LP evaluating commitments, a GP positioning your performance, or an advisor guiding pacing and allocation, Dakota Benchmarks gives you the lens you need.
How Dakota Benchmarks Works
Dakota Benchmarks is built on one core principle: performance data is only useful if it’s current, comparable, and connected to what’s actually happening in the market.
Quartiles You Can Trust
Dakota Benchmarks is powered by verified LP and GP reporting. Performance is segmented by vintage year, geography, and strategy so you’re comparing apples to apples, not guessing across averages.
Context That Drives Clarity
Numbers alone don’t tell the full story. Dakota Benchmarks connects fund performance to portfolio company outcomes, sector shifts, and sponsor behavior helping LPs understand what’s driving returns and giving GPs the ability to tell a sharper, more credible story.
You can also layer in qualitative insights (fund memos, consultant perspectives, and more) to support better decisions and better conversations.
Live Data, Not Static PDFs
This isn’t a snapshot, it’s a live database. Because Dakota Benchmarks is integrated into Dakota Marketplace, the data refreshes continuously. That means your insights stay current, and your comparisons stay relevant.
The Dakota Benchmark Advantage
Dakota Benchmarks isn’t just another tool to juggle. It’s built directly into Dakota Marketplace, right alongside the intelligence your team already uses every day.
You get instant access to performance benchmarks right next to:
- Deal sourcing
- Manager research
- Company and portfolio intelligence
And for teams that need more customization, Dakota Benchmarks integrates via API or Snowflake… perfect for automating portfolio monitoring, powering internal dashboards, and scaling reporting.
Why It Matters
With Dakota Benchmarks, you don’t just get data… you get real context:
- Identify top-performing GPs by strategy and vintage
- See the actual transactions and companies driving returns
- Connect fund performance to economic cycles, sector shifts, and sponsor behavior
Real-time insight. Custom peer groups. Full transparency. All in one place.
If you're tired of benchmarks that don’t reflect your world, it’s time to take control. Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to see Dakota Benchmarks in action.
