Private equity (PE)-backed firms in the IPA 100 reported 27.0% total growth, nearly three times the 9.1% growth rate among firms without private equity investment.
Organic growth, however, was exactly 7.0% for both groups.
That comparison puts the difference in total growth into sharper focus. The growth advantage among PE-backed firms is coming from inorganic expansion rather than stronger organic performance.
That is hardly surprising given the capital available to firms pursuing acquisition-heavy strategies. Twenty-one IPA 100 firms now have some form of outside investment, giving those organizations another source of capital for acquisitions, geographic expansion and other strategic investments.
The identical 7.0% organic growth rates suggest that, at least for now, outside capital is changing how firms scale more than how quickly they grow organically.
Private equity has introduced a fundamentally different capital model into the profession, including a greater emphasis on retaining earnings for reinvestment rather than distributing nearly all income to partners. Those investments may eventually produce advantages in technology, talent, service expansion or operational efficiency.
The 2026 data does not yet show an organic growth advantage.
Nor does equal organic growth make the two models economically equivalent. PE-backed and independent firms differ in how they fund expansion, distribute earnings and define returns. Total revenue growth captures only one part of that comparison.
For leaders evaluating outside investment or benchmarking themselves against PE-backed competitors, the 27% growth figure needs context. It shows how quickly outside capital can accelerate scale through acquisitions. It does not show that those firms are currently outperforming independent firms at generating revenue internally.
The longer-term comparison will be whether the different capital models eventually produce measurable gaps in organic growth, profitability, partner economics and enterprise value.
For now, the 2026 IPA 100 offers a useful baseline: PE-backed firms are scaling much faster, while their organic growth remains in line with the rest of the profession’s largest firms.
See the full PE-backed versus independent firm analysis in the August issue of IPA Insights. Purchase it here: https://form.jotform.com/253235687892168.
