Stanford Search Fund Study (2026)
At a Glance
Read it to understand traditional-search economics, just know it says nothing about self-funded search.
- Pricing
- Free, Free (Stanford GSB case E967, 30 pages, authors Peter Kelly, Stefanos Zenios and Dom Ng).
- Best For
- Understanding the traditional path's real economics, and arming investor conversations with hard numbers
- Roadmap Stages
- 1. Learn & Choose Your Path
Pros and Cons
Pros
- A biennial dataset on the traditional search fund segment, running since the 1990s
- Fresh: 2026 edition released ~July 1, 2026 with data through year-end 2025
- Aggregate return figures (33.9% IRR, 4.75x ROIC) carry weight with investors
Cons
- Covers only 'core' multi-investor funds; it explicitly excludes the self-funded/SBA segment most buyers are in
- 'Selected observations' format: headline aggregates, not the raw dataset
What Searchers Say
Corroborated within a week of release by CapitalPad, Search Funds News, and others. Note: the 2026 edition supersedes widely-quoted 2024 figures (681 funds, 35.1% IRR), which are no longer the numbers the study reports.