Key Takeaways
- • Highland Global Business Valuations sponsored Pepperdine Graziadio Business School's 2026 Private Capital Markets Report, reinforcing the firm's focus on evidence-based business valuation and private capital market research.
- • Pepperdine's private cost of capital survey has operated since 2007 as the only research benchmarking required returns simultaneously across all major private capital segments, including bank loans, equity investments, and angel capital.
- • The 2026 report findings highlight significant divergence in cost of capital across private capital segments, providing critical data for valuations, lending decisions, and investment analysis.
- • The report draws on data and perspectives from lenders, investors, intermediaries, business appraisers, factoring firms, and privately held business owners to assess current private capital market conditions.
- • Highland Global's sponsorship reflects the firm's 20-year operational principle that sound valuation judgment depends on rigorous, market-aware research rather than formula-based approaches alone.
Summary
Highland Global Business Valuations announced its corporate sponsorship of the 2026 Private Capital Markets Report produced by Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, underscoring the valuation firm's commitment to evidence-based market research and private capital analysis. This sponsorship represents a strategic alignment with Pepperdine's long-established research program, which has served as a foundational resource for private capital market participants since 2007.
The Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Report distinguishes itself as the only comprehensive research effort to simultaneously benchmark required returns across all major private capital segments—spanning bank loans, equity investments, mezzanine capital, and angel investment. This multi-segment approach addresses a critical gap in private capital market intelligence by providing comparative cost-of-capital data across diverse funding sources, which is essential for accurate business valuation and pricing decisions in non-public markets.
The 2026 edition's findings underscore significant divergence in cost structures across private capital segments, a distinction with material implications for valuators, lenders, investors, and business owners alike. The report synthesizes data and perspectives from an expansive participant base including institutional and commercial lenders, private equity and venture investors, intermediaries, business appraisers, factoring firms, and privately held business owners—positioning it as a comprehensive market snapshot rather than a narrow institutional view.
Highland Global's participation extends beyond sponsorship to substantive engagement with the research methodology, reflecting the firm's operational philosophy that disciplined valuation requires judgment grounded in rigorous, real-world market behavior rather than template-driven formulas. According to Robert M., Highland Global emphasized that "private company valuation requires more than formulas and templates. It requires judgment, market awareness, and an understanding of how real buyers, lenders, investors, and business owners behave in the private capital markets." This sponsorship reinforces Highland Global's 20-year commitment to experience-based valuation standards and positions Pepperdine's research as a cornerstone reference for institutional practitioners managing private capital allocations.
The Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Report distinguishes itself as the only comprehensive research effort to simultaneously benchmark required returns across all major private capital segments—spanning bank loans, equity investments, mezzanine capital, and angel investment. This multi-segment approach addresses a critical gap in private capital market intelligence by providing comparative cost-of-capital data across diverse funding sources, which is essential for accurate business valuation and pricing decisions in non-public markets.
The 2026 edition's findings underscore significant divergence in cost structures across private capital segments, a distinction with material implications for valuators, lenders, investors, and business owners alike. The report synthesizes data and perspectives from an expansive participant base including institutional and commercial lenders, private equity and venture investors, intermediaries, business appraisers, factoring firms, and privately held business owners—positioning it as a comprehensive market snapshot rather than a narrow institutional view.
Highland Global's participation extends beyond sponsorship to substantive engagement with the research methodology, reflecting the firm's operational philosophy that disciplined valuation requires judgment grounded in rigorous, real-world market behavior rather than template-driven formulas. According to Robert M., Highland Global emphasized that "private company valuation requires more than formulas and templates. It requires judgment, market awareness, and an understanding of how real buyers, lenders, investors, and business owners behave in the private capital markets." This sponsorship reinforces Highland Global's 20-year commitment to experience-based valuation standards and positions Pepperdine's research as a cornerstone reference for institutional practitioners managing private capital allocations.
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