Venture capital funds roared ahead in the quarter ended September 30, climbing 8.8 percent based on trailing 12-month performance, according to a statistics released Monday.
Funds in all categories posted a 32.3 percent return for the 12-month period compared with 23.5 for the period ended June 30, 2007, according to figures from Thomson Financial and the National Venture Capital Association.
Leading the charge was later-stage VC, which notched a 41.4 percent 12-month gain. Early/seed logged 23.6 percent.
The quarter marked a surge from the 8.2 percent gain posted for the period ended September 30, 2006, and outdistanced benchmarks such as the Nasdaq (14.2 percent) and the Standard & Poor's 500 (10.8 percent).
“The third quarter 2007 performance numbers are consistent with an asset class that benefited from improving exit markets during the year, but still had to contend with losses earlier in the decade,” Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA, said in a statement. “We expect these numbers to continue to trend positive for at least the next quarter as this past year saw some strong IPOs and acquisitions that will support higher returns in the short run."
He cautioned, however, that the NVCA would continue to watch the economy for growing signs of recession and its effect on venture capital exits.
The private equity performance index put overall venture performance at 10.4 percent for the trailing 3-year period, 6.7 percent for the trailing 5 years, 17.9 percent for the previous decade, and 16.4 percent for prior 20 years.