Morningstar, Inc., in collaboration with PitchBook, is set to launch the Morningstar PitchBook US Evergreen Fund Indexes in Q1 2026, introducing comprehensive peer group benchmarks designed to measure the performance of nontraded “semiliquid” or “evergreen” funds across various private market asset classes.
The full suite of indexes aims to provide investors with a data-driven view of how evergreen funds perform relative to public market alternatives and one another, addressing a recognized gap in market transparency. These indexes will span multiple asset classes, including private equity, private debt, real estate, infrastructure, and multi-asset strategies, through dedicated subindexes.
Sanjay Arya, head of index innovation at Morningstar Indexes, noted the challenge investors face: “Despite the rapid growth of the evergreen fund market, investors have lacked essential tools to conduct due diligence and compare performance on a consistent basis. With the Morningstar PitchBook US Evergreen Fund Indexes, we’re addressing that gap—bringing greater transparency, comparability, and rigor to one of the fastest ways for investors to gain access to private markets.”
Morningstar has also introduced its Medalist Rating for Semiliquid Funds and recently expanded its semiliquid fund categories. At the end of last month, the company introduced seven new categories in the US and three in Europe to classify these semiliquid vehicles into suitable peer groups, providing insights comparable to those offered for traditional investments.
Evergreen, or semiliquid, funds have grown substantially, evolving from niche structures into a rapidly expanding segment of private markets. These vehicles offer a blend of access to private assets with features like periodic liquidity, perpetual life, and simplified reporting, allowing investors exposure to institutional-grade strategies with the convenience typically associated with mutual funds or ETFs. According to data from Morningstar and PitchBook, U.
S. evergreen funds managed approximately $450 billion in net assets as of mid-2025, an increase from $250 billion in 2022. This figure is projected to exceed $1 trillion by the end of the decade, indicating a growing investor demand for diversification, income generation, and private market exposures.
The Morningstar PitchBook US Evergreen Fund Indexes will establish a rules-based framework for measuring and comparing performance across unlisted evergreen vehicles, including interval funds, tender offer funds, Business Development Companies (BDCs), and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). The index family will include both monthly and daily calculated indexes to capture the full investable universe of unlisted evergreen funds and accommodate varying reporting cadences.
Key components of the index family include:
* **Morningstar PitchBook US Evergreen Fund Indexes:** These indexes will offer a comprehensive view of all unlisted semiliquid funds, with subindexes focused on private capital strategies such as direct lending, alternative credit, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, and multi-asset funds, facilitating peer comparisons and strategy-level benchmarking.
* **Morningstar PitchBook US Daily Evergreen Fund Indexes:** These components are designed to track funds that report daily Net Asset Values (NAVs), providing higher-frequency insights for this specific segment of the universe.
Dan Cook, global head of quantitative research and market intelligence at PitchBook, emphasized the collaboration’s goal: “As the pulse of the private markets, PitchBook is committed to bringing greater clarity and context to an increasingly complex and dynamic ecosystem. We’re helping investors better understand and benchmark the performance of evergreen funds, a critical step toward transparency in private markets. By combining PitchBook’s deep data and private market expertise with Morningstar’s index innovation, we’re building the tools and insights investors need to make more informed decisions in an evolving landscape.”
Morningstar is advancing transparency in converging markets by leveraging data and private market expertise from PitchBook, LCD, and Morningstar Credit. This approach supports improved portfolio decisions through four interconnected capabilities: actionable data, including expanded coverage on private companies and semiliquid funds; standardized analytics, featuring standardized categories, liquidity-adjusted risk scores, and percent-private exposure; differentiated intellectual property, such as the Morningstar PitchBook Unicorn 30 and Modern Market 100 indexes; and unified workflow tools, including the Direct Advisory Suite and the integration of Lumonic’s private credit monitoring with PitchBook’s private markets reference data and analytical suite. These capabilities collectively enable professionals to construct, monitor, and explain portfolios with enhanced precision.
