The vintage year of a private equity or venture capital fund is defined as the calendar year in which the fund begins deploying capital — either the year of the first capital call or the year of the first investment, depending on convention. Vintage year is used to group funds for peer comparison, since macroeconomic conditions (interest rates, credit availability, entry multiples) at the time of deployment significantly influence returns.
Funds with the same vintage year faced similar market conditions and thus provide a more meaningful comparison than cross-vintage analysis. The 2008 vintage funds, for example, benefited from buying assets at distressed prices following the Global Financial Crisis. Alternatives.pe's fund data includes vintage year information to enable appropriate peer benchmarking across the Asia-Pacific region.