Abstract
This paper provides the first evidence on the long-run returns to private equity in emerging and frontier markets using the cash flows from every equity investment made by the International Finance Corporation across 130 countries over 58 years. Risk-adjusted returns are comparable to the S&P 500, at least from 1961 until 2010. Returns improve with economic growth, but decline as banking systems deepen and countries relax capital controls. These results are consistent with the thesis that financial frictions have prevented the flow of capital from rich to poor countries, and that the persistence of impact investors’ performance may rely on identifying or creating new markets that lack access to capital.