The Data Behind Three Decades of Middle-Market Investing

Numbers tell stories. For HIG Capital, the metrics reveal a firm that grew from Miami startup to global platform managing $70 billion across seven strategies. The data points — 400+ portfolio companies, 19 offices, over 1,000 employees, $53 billion in combined portfolio revenues — illustrate scale achieved through middle-market focus.

Sami Mnaymneh serves as founder, executive chairman and CEO of the firm he launched with Tony Tamer in 1993. Examining the quantitative measures behind HIG Capital’s evolution offers insights into how middle-market private equity platforms achieve institutional scale.

Foundational Metrics

HIG Capital’s origins trace to 1993, when Mnaymneh and Tamer raised their first fund. Exact fund size remains undisclosed, but early private equity funds typically ranged from $50 million to $200 million. The firm would need to demonstrate performance before raising significantly larger funds.

Over three decades, assets under management grew to $70 billion. This represents compound annual growth exceeding 25% if starting from even $100 million. Few private equity firms sustain this growth rate over extended periods.

The expansion occurred across multiple fund generations. Private equity funds typically deploy capital over 3-5 years, then manage investments for another 5-7 years before liquidation. This means HIG Capital has likely raised 15-20 distinct funds across its strategies over three decades.

Before founding HIG Capital, Mnaymneh built credentials supporting fundraising efforts. He graduated first in his class at Columbia University with a B.A. summa cum laude, then earned both a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School with honors. These credentials helped attract initial limited partner commitments.

Geographic Footprint

The firm’s 19 offices span five continents. U.S. locations include Miami (headquarters), New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and Stamford. This provides coverage across major American financial centers and key regional markets.

European offices include Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan and Paris. This represents presence in Germany, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy and France — six of Europe’s largest economies and most active private equity markets.

Latin American operations span Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, covering Colombia, Brazil’s two largest cities and South America’s most developed private equity markets. Additional offices in Dubai and Hong Kong provide Middle Eastern and Asian presence.

Building 19 offices required substantial investment. Each location needs office space, local staff, legal entities and operational infrastructure. The geographic expansion likely cost tens of millions in cumulative investment before generating returns.

Human Capital

HIG Capital employs over 1,000 people total, with more than 500 classified as investment professionals. This suggests roughly half the staff works directly on sourcing, evaluating and managing investments while the other half provides support functions.

Investment professional count has grown substantially. Early-stage private equity firms might employ 10-20 investment professionals. Growing to 500+ required sustained hiring over three decades. Assuming 5% annual turnover (low for private equity), the firm has likely hired and trained over 1,000 investment professionals cumulatively.

The firm’s hiring strategy emphasizes operational backgrounds alongside financial expertise. Many professionals came from consulting firms or previous operating roles. This created competitive advantages in middle-market investing where operational value creation matters substantially.

Compensation represents significant expense. Investment professionals at private equity firms typically earn $200,000-$500,000+ in base salary depending on seniority, plus bonuses and carried interest. Supporting 500 investment professionals likely requires $200-300 million annually in compensation before including support staff.

Transaction Volume

HIG Capital has invested in more than 400 companies since 1993. This translates to approximately 13 investments annually on average. However, transaction pace has likely accelerated as the firm grew, with more recent years seeing higher annual volumes.

Completing 13+ transactions annually requires substantial deal flow. Private equity firms typically review 50-100 opportunities for every investment completed. This suggests HIG Capital evaluates 500-1,000 potential transactions annually across its strategies.

Managing this deal flow requires significant resources. Investment teams conduct preliminary screening, detailed due diligence, financial modeling and presentation preparation. Supporting 500+ annual evaluations likely consumes thousands of professional hours.

Transaction sizes vary by strategy. Buyouts might range from $50 million to $500 million in enterprise value. Growth equity investments could be $10 million to $100 million. Direct lending transactions through WhiteHorse typically involve $50 million to $300 million in loan amounts.

Portfolio Metrics

Current portfolio exceeds 100 companies with combined revenues above $53 billion. This suggests average portfolio company generates approximately $500 million in revenue. However, this average likely masks significant variation, with some companies generating under $100 million and others exceeding $1 billion.

Portfolio company employee count likely totals 200,000-300,000+ across all holdings. This represents substantial economic impact across the communities where portfolio companies operate. Employee welfare at these companies affects hundreds of thousands of families.

Geographic distribution spans portfolio companies across North America, Europe, Latin America and other regions. Recent transactions have included companies in Finland, Spain, Germany, France, Italy and numerous other countries alongside U.S. investments.

Sector distribution covers healthcare, technology, business services, consumer products, industrials, real estate and infrastructure. This diversification reduces concentration risk while requiring building expertise across multiple industries.

Fund Performance Indicators

While HIG Capital doesn’t disclose detailed returns, certain metrics suggest competitive performance. The firm successfully raised successively larger funds over three decades. Fund size growth typically correlates with strong performance, as limited partners commit more capital to successful managers.

WhiteHorse’s fourth fund closed at $5.9 billion in August 2025, representing one of the largest middle-market lending funds raised that year. This substantial commitment demonstrates institutional confidence in the lending strategy.

The ability to raise $5.9 billion for a single fund suggests strong limited partner demand. Assuming WhiteHorse represents roughly 15-20% of HIG Capital’s total assets, proportional fundraising across other strategies would support continued growth.

Limited partner base likely includes major pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors. These sophisticated investors conduct extensive due diligence, comparing performance across managers before committing capital.

Capital Deployment Rates

Deploying $70 billion across 400+ companies suggests average investment size around $175 million. However, this calculation masks significant variation across strategies and transaction types.

Annual deployment likely ranges from $3-5 billion currently. Assuming 3-5 year investment periods for new funds, the firm needs to deploy committed capital relatively consistently. This requires completing numerous transactions annually across multiple strategies.

Deployment pace affects management fee revenue. Private equity firms typically charge 1.5-2% annual management fees on committed capital during investment periods, declining to 1-1.5% on invested capital during harvest periods. On $70 billion, even 1.5% generates over $1 billion in annual management fee revenue.

However, management fees fund operations employing 1,000+ people across 19 offices. After compensation, office expenses, technology systems and other costs, net income to partners represents a fraction of gross management fees.

Exit Activity

Realizing returns requires portfolio company exits. With 100+ current portfolio companies and 400+ cumulative investments, HIG Capital has completed approximately 300 exits over three decades. This suggests roughly 10 exits annually on average.

Exit timing affects cash flow to limited partners. Private equity funds typically begin distributing capital in years 4-6 as initial investments mature. Distribution rates depend on exit market conditions and portfolio company performance.

Recent exits have included sales to other private equity firms and operating companies. Public offerings historically provided exit paths, though IPO markets have been less active recently. Recapitalizations represent partial exits, allowing firms to realize some value while retaining ownership.

Extended holding periods in recent years due to constrained exit markets have affected distribution timing industry-wide. Many funds now hold portfolio companies 7+ years compared to historical 4-6 year averages.

Revenue Impact

Portfolio companies generate combined revenues exceeding $53 billion annually. This represents substantial economic activity across sectors and geographies. The revenue figure also provides context for HIG Capital’s economic significance beyond just assets under management.

Assuming typical middle-market profit margins of 10-15%, portfolio companies likely generate $5-8 billion in collective EBITDA annually. This earnings power supports debt service, growth investment and eventual exit valuations.

Revenue growth at portfolio companies drives value creation. If portfolio companies grow revenues 5-10% annually through organic growth and acquisitions, collective revenues could reach $60-70 billion within several years. This growth translates to increased enterprise values.

However, not all portfolio companies perform equally. Some exceed growth expectations while others struggle. Portfolio construction requires balancing high-performers against underperformers to achieve target returns.

Market Position

Among middle-market focused firms, HIG Capital ranks among the largest by assets under management. The $70 billion platform exceeds most pure middle-market competitors while remaining substantially smaller than mega-funds like Blackstone, KKR or Apollo managing $500 billion+.

This positioning creates competitive advantages. The firm can deploy larger equity checks than smaller competitors, making it credible for upper middle-market transactions. However, the middle-market focus avoids competing directly with mega-funds on billion-dollar deals.

Market share in middle-market private equity likely represents low single digits given the segment’s fragmentation. Hundreds of firms compete for middle-market transactions, preventing any single player from dominating.

However, market share varies by sector and geography. In specific industries or regions where HIG Capital has concentrated investments, local market share likely exceeds overall averages.

Looking at the Numbers Forward

As HIG Capital approaches its 35th anniversary, key metrics will indicate future trajectory. Fund size growth suggests continued expansion. If recent funds exceed predecessor funds by 20-30%, assets under management could reach $100 billion within 5-7 years.

However, larger funds create deployment challenges. Maintaining 400+ portfolio companies while managing $100 billion would require either larger average check sizes or accelerating transaction velocity further. Both approaches carry execution risks.

Employment growth provides another metric. Expanding from 1,000 to 1,500 employees would support increased transaction volume and portfolio management demands. However, this growth requires maintaining culture while integrating new professionals.

Exit activity becomes increasingly important as portfolio companies mature. Generating sufficient distributions to satisfy limited partners while maintaining deployment pace requires balancing investment and realization activities effectively.

The quantitative measures behind HIG Capital’s evolution reveal a firm that achieved institutional scale through sustained execution. Whether these metrics continue improving depends on market conditions, competitive dynamics and organizational capabilities.

For now, the numbers tell a story of remarkable growth from startup to $70 billion platform serving thousands of limited partners, employing over 1,000 professionals and managing investments across hundreds of companies worldwide.