The private equity vehicle trailed public stocks over the year but kept a decade-long edge on the MSCI World Index while carrying roughly half the volatility.

June 10, 2026

Pomona Investment Fund closed its fiscal year on March 31, 2026 with a net total return of 2.45% on its Class A shares, a modest result that lagged a strong public equity market but preserved the long-run track record the fund has built since opening to investors in 2015. The year was shaped by an uneven recovery in private markets and by capital flowing out of the fund faster than it came in.

The annual report, submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission by the Delaware-registered, non-diversified closed-end fund, frames the period around two very different timelines.

One year versus ten

Over twelve months, the fund could not match the MSCI World Index, which returned 19.39%. Over longer horizons, the comparison reverses:

• Ten-year net annualized return: 12.64%, ahead of the index by 28 basis points.
• Since-inception net annualized return: 11.82%, ahead of the index by 103 basis points.
• Cumulative return since May 2015: 237.86%, against 205.49% for the benchmark.

The fund also stressed how it earned those returns. Its annualized standard deviation since inception was 8.44%, against 15.55% for the index, pointing to a steadier ride even in a disappointing year. Pomona Management LLC, the fund’s adviser and a subsidiary of Voya Financial, notes the index is an imperfect yardstick, since it carries none of the fees a private markets fund bears and the fund does not attempt to track it. Class I shares, offered to institutional investors without a sales charge, returned 3.03% for the year.

A portfolio built on secondaries

The fund’s holdings rest overwhelmingly on the secondary market. At period end it held interests in 339 underlying private equity funds, spanning 155 managers and roughly 2,300 portfolio companies. Secondary investments, meaning stakes in existing funds acquired in privately negotiated deals, made up 85.98% of the private equity book. Primary commitments, early secondaries, and a small slice of direct and co-investments accounted for the remainder.

During the year the fund deployed roughly $221 million, taking positions in 21 funds through secondary transactions and adding three primary commitments.

An uneven market backdrop

That activity unfolded against what the report calls a tentative private equity rebound. Global buyout deal value rose 44% and exit value climbed 47%, but both gains leaned on a handful of very large transactions, and the overall number of deals fell. Fundraising stayed difficult, with global buyout fundraising down 16% as limited partners faced slow distributions and longer holding periods. Distributions as a share of net asset value stayed below 15% for a fourth consecutive year, a stretch the report likens to the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

The exception was the secondary market itself, which surpassed $200 billion in annual transaction volume for the first time. Steady demand for liquidity among institutions, along with the spread of general partner–led continuation vehicles, kept the market active and well supplied, conditions that favor a buyer anchored in seasoned assets.

Earnings, outflows, and a smaller asset base

The income statement shows how a private markets fund produces its returns. The fund recorded a net investment loss of about $26.1 million, as management, administration, and distribution costs outran dividend and interest income. Total expenses reached roughly $48.6 million, including a management fee of about $32.5 million, charged at an annualized 1.65% of quarter-end net assets. Realized gains carried the year, with net realized gains from private equity holdings of roughly $151.5 million lifting the net increase in net assets from operations to about $56.4 million.

Net assets still shrank, ending near $1.75 billion against roughly $1.9 billion a year earlier. The drop traces almost entirely to shareholder activity rather than performance. The fund ran four quarterly repurchase offers, buying back about 19.5 million shares for roughly $311.5 million, and outflows outpaced new subscriptions by about $156.7 million. It distributed roughly $51.3 million in capital gains during the year. Class A shares ended at a net asset value of $15.06 and Class I shares at $16.19.

Valuation, governance, and outlook

The fund values most holdings using the net asset values reported by underlying managers, an approach common to vehicles of this type given the absence of public prices for private equity stakes. Those positions are restricted and illiquid, and the report cautions that estimated values could differ materially from amounts ultimately realized. The fund also expanded its revolving credit facility with Barclays Bank to $200 million, though it carried no outstanding borrowings at year end, and its independent auditor issued an unqualified opinion.

On governance, the board of trustees approved continuing the management agreement with Pomona Management for another year. The board acknowledged the difficulty of finding true comparables for a secondaries-focused fund, noting that while the advisory fee runs above its peer-group median, the net expense ratio sits below that median, and many peers carry performance or incentive fees that raise their effective costs. The portfolio remains under chief executive Michael Granoff, senior partner Frances Janis, and partner Jim Rorer.

The fund flagged trade conflict, geopolitical tension, and other global shocks as risks to its investments. As of period end, it carried about $328 million in outstanding commitments to private equity funds, capital it expects to deploy as those funds draw on it in the years ahead.