Siguler Guff has raised more than $3 billion for its small buyout strategy. More than $2.3 billion was raised through commingled funds, which pool capital from multiple investors, including Small Buyout Opportunities Fund VI LP. Nearly $700 million was raised through separately managed accounts, which are customized investment vehicles established for individual institutional investors. Fund VI was marketed with a $2.2 billion target.
Siguler Guff’s strategy commits capital to private equity funds that buy small, often founder- or family-owned companies, and also invests directly alongside those managers in individual transactions. Target companies have less than $200 million of annual revenue and typically no more than $50 million of EBITDA.
Fund VI typically commits from $30 million to $60 million to individual private equity funds and makes direct co-investments of $5 million to $30 million in companies operating in the manufacturing, business services, healthcare and consumer sectors.
“We are pleased to have completed the largest fundraising in the history of our small buyout strategy,” said Kevin Kester, a partner and co-managing partner of small business investments at Siguler Guff. “The small and lower middle market is a vital part of the U.S. economy, with more than 500,000 businesses and approximately 96% of all U.S. firms.”
Fund VI is already approximately 50% invested, with capital deployed through both commitments to lower-middle-market buyout funds and direct co-investments alongside those managers.
Since 2006, Siguler Guff’s small buyout program has committed more than $10 billion to funds that have backed more than 1,000 US companies employing more than 400,000 people. The program has also made more than 300 direct co-investments, is the largest limited partner in funds managed by more than 87 sponsors and has backed 46 first-time funds.
“In this market, deep relationships and specialized expertise can create a meaningful advantage,” said Jonathan Wilson, a partner and co-managing partner of small business investments at Siguler Guff.
Siguler Guff’s small buyout fund sizes have climbed steadily. The first fund raised $505 million in 2006, followed by Fund II with $940 million in 2013. Fund III closed with $1.1 billion in October 2017, Fund IV with $1.57 billion at its hard cap in January 2020, and Fund V with $1.97 billion in August 2022.
“This record close reflects the scale, maturity and success of the small buyout franchise our team has built over more than two decades,” said Drew Guff, a co-managing partner and chief investment officer of Siguler Guff.
The new fund closed in a difficult fundraising market for smaller managers. Buyout fundraising fell 16% to $395 billion in 2025, the fourth consecutive year of decline, according to Bain & Company. Funds of $1 billion or more accounted for 78% of private equity capital raised in the first half of 2026, compared with 59% in 2021, according to PitchBook.
Siguler Guff has approximately $19 billion of assets under management and invests across a range of strategies, including small business buyouts, small business credit, emerging markets, opportunistic credit and real estate. The firm was formed in 1991 as the private equity division of PaineWebber and has been independent since 1995. It was founded by George Siguler, Drew Guff and Donald Spencer and is headquartered in New York City.