This 2025 INSEAD Knowledge piece explains why search funds are gaining traction as an alternative to traditional private equity and venture capital, targeting profitable SMEs that are too small for PE and too mature for VC.
Stanford GSB's 2024 study remains the benchmark performance dataset for search funds raised in the U.S. and Canada, tracking 681 funds since 1984 with aggregate returns of roughly 35.1% pre-tax IRR and a 4.5× MOIC.
