The J-Curve and why it matters
January 9, 2026
The J-Curve and Why it Matters
- Strategy insight
January 9, 2026 | 4 min read
Managing Director
Vice President
Private equity offers compelling long-term benefits, but one of its most notable challenges is the J-curve: a term used to describe the period of mostly early negative returns followed by long-term gains, experienced in traditional private equity investments. This dynamic requires careful consideration for an investor, particularly in the initial years of a private equity fund’s life. Evergreen funds are reshaping an investor’s experience, by solving many operational considerations, and significantly minimizing the impact of the J-curve.
What is the private equity J-curve?
During the first few years (typically years 0-4) of a private equity fund’s life,1 often referred to as the investment period, returns are typically negative as capital is called from investors to invest into underlying portfolio companies and pay management fees and expenses. Contemporaneously, the underlying companies often do not typically appreciate until 12-18 months post investment. As underlying portfolio companies start to develop and generate value, the fund enters the value creation period (years 4-8). The private equity fund begins to experience unrealised gains from investments, and potentially realised gains through exit events, leading to an increase in Net Asset Value (NAV). The value creation phase in the portfolio generates returns which drive the upward sloping part of the J-curve, illustrating substantial gains for investors.
Finally, we have the harvest period, which overlaps with the value creation phase. After which, the returns plateau, and the private equity fund is managed for realisations.
J-curve example
For illustrative purposes only.
Source: HarbourVest
Why does the J-curve matter for investors?
For private equity investors, the J-curve requires careful considerations across three main dimensions:
- Long-term return horizon. It is crucial to manage investor performance expectations and approach private equity with a long-term return horizon. Gains usually come in the later years as companies mature and increase in value and are sold. While returns are not immediate, private equity has the potential to outperform in the long-term.
- Liquidity management. As private equity funds deploy capital in the early years, investors should plan for cash outflows (capital calls); and in the later years as the portfolio generates value and private equity funds return capital (distributions), investors should plan for cash inflows. The exact timing of these cashflows is uncertain.
- Diversification. Across vintage years and fund strategies can help to minimize the overall portfolio effect of individual J-curves.
Connect with HarbourVest
How can evergreen funds mitigate the J-curve?
Evergreen funds tend to avoid the J-curve typically associated with traditional private equity, by solving many of the operational considerations for investors listed above.
Firstly, evergreen funds provide immediate NAV exposure to private equity, to a fully funded portfolio in the value creation phase. This can potentially remove the early (negative) returns of a typical private equity fund for an evergreen fund investor.
Secondly, all capital is called upfront on day one through a single subscription, and distributions are reinvested, which also provides the evergreen fund investor with the benefit of the power of compounding returns over time. Cash is managed within the evergreen structure by the evergreen fund manager, effectively transferring the cash management responsibility for private equity investments from the investor to the fund manager.
Thirdly, rather than building a well-diversified portfolio from scratch, evergreen funds provide the opportunity to invest in an already established portfolio of well diversified private equity opportunities.
In summary, evergreen funds are an exciting development in private equity investing, by providing investors with solutions to many of the hurdles typically associated with traditional private equity fund investing, notably the J-curve. Evergreen funds are broadening the adoption of the asset class across a diverse set of investors.
Footnotes
- Closed-ended drawdown fund format.
Disclosure
HarbourVest Partners, LLC is a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. This material is solely for informational purposes and should not be viewed as a current or past recommendation or an offer to sell or the solicitation to buy securities or adopt any investment strategy. The opinions expressed herein represent the current, good faith views of the author(s) at the time of publication, are not definitive investment advice, and should not be relied upon as such. This material has been developed internally and/or obtained from sources believed to be reliable; however, HarbourVest does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of such information. There is no assurance that any events or projections will occur, and outcomes may be significantly different than the opinions shown here. This information, including any projections concerning financial market performance, is based on current market conditions, which will fluctuate and may be superseded by subsequent market events or for other reasons. The information contained herein must be kept strictly confidential and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any format without the express written approval of HarbourVest.
