New indexes measuring performance of US-registered, unlisted semiliquid funds are now available. New research from PitchBook provides insight into performance characteristics for the rapidly growing category.
CHICAGO, February 04, 2026 – Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN) today announced that its full suite of Morningstar PitchBook US Evergreen Fund Indexes is available. The new indexes offer investors comprehensive benchmarks designed to measure the performance of semiliquid, or “evergreen,” private market funds including tender offer funds, interval funds, unlisted BDCs, and unlisted REITs, with subindexes focused on private capital strategies.
As private markets expand and become more accessible to a broader universe of investors, evergreen fund structures, also referred to as “semiliquid” fund structures have emerged as a way for retail investors to more easily access areas like private credit, real estate, private equity, and venture capital which were previously available to only a select group of institutional or high net worth investors. According to Morningstar and PitchBook in its inaugural US Evergreen Fund Landscape Report, published in December, the evergreen fund universe stands at nearly $500 billion and is expected to pass $1 trillion by the end of the decade.
Evergreen funds have demonstrated resilient long‑term performance as the market has matured and investor adoption has increased. Since the inception of historical data in June 2014, the Morningstar PitchBook US Evergreen Fund Index has delivered approximately 7% annualized returns.
Returns across evergreen fund strategies vary widely, with a persistent gap between top- and bottom-performing funds even over shorter time periods. The Evergreen Fund Indexes provide a clear, peer-based yardstick for evaluating relative performance, risk, and persistence across the evolving market.
Sanjay Arya – Head of Innovation, Morningstar Indexes:
“Evergreen funds are transforming how investors access private markets, but until now, consistent performance benchmarks have been limited. The Morningstar PitchBook Evergreen Fund Indexes provide a standardized framework for evaluating semiliquid private market strategies, enabling allocators, advisors, and asset managers to compare outcomes with greater clarity and confidence.”
Zane Carmean – Director of Quantitative Research, PitchBook:
“With the potential for trillions of dollars to flow from the wealth channel into private markets, investors need benchmarks tailored to the unique asset mixes and liquidity structures of evergreen funds. These indexes fill that gap by providing a transparent, rules‑based foundation for peer comparison, performance evaluation, and deeper market insight as the evergreen universe continues to mature.”
The Morningstar PitchBook Evergreen Fund Indexes are available directly from Morningstar Indexes and can also be accessed through Morningstar Direct and PitchBook Direct Data.
Morningstar has introduced several new and enhanced investor tools to navigate the convergence of public and private markets in recent years, including expanded coverage of private companies and semiliquid funds from Morningstar Manager Research, standardized categories and metrics from Morningstar Direct, differentiated benchmarks from Morningstar Indexes, and unified workflow tools from PitchBook, like its best-in-class private markets reference data and analytics suite.
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About Morningstar Indexes
Morningstar Indexes was built to keep up with the evolving needs of investors—and to be a leading-edge advocate for them. Our rich heritage as a transparent, investor-focused leader in data and research uniquely equips us to support individuals, institutions, wealth managers and advisors in navigating investment opportunities across major asset classes, styles and strategies. In February 2026, the acquisition of CRSP brought the CRSP Market Indexes—benchmarks for over $3 trillion in U.S. equities—into the Morningstar Indexes family. Additionally, the CRSP Research Data Products, renowned for their academic rigor, historical depth, and accuracy, will further enhance Morningstar’s equity research and data capabilities. This integration unites two trusted sources of market insight, reinforcing a shared commitment to transparency, quality, and investor-focused solutions. Please visit indexes.morningstar.com for more information.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $352 billion in AUMA as of June 30, 2025. The Company operates through wholly- or majority-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MorningstarInc.
About PitchBook, a Morningstar company
As the pulse of private capital markets, PitchBook delivers trusted, real-time data, research, and technology to help investors, dealmakers, and innovators make decisions with confidence. Its products provide comprehensive information on companies, investors, funds, deals, and people, along with tools that help professionals analyze market activity and make informed decisions. Founded in 2007, PitchBook today serves more than 100,000 clients worldwide and is recognized as the leading source of private capital market intelligence. PitchBook has grown to over 3,000 employees across offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Mumbai, and other global locations. Since 2016, PitchBook has operated as a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc.
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Contacts:
Tim Benedict, +1 203 339-1912, Tim.Benedict@Morningstar.com
Mary Kenefake, Mary.Kenefake@PitchBook.com
Source: Morningstar, Inc.