What it does
Compare puts up to four PE firms next to each other and walks you through their differences across nine panels — Strategy Summary, Key Metrics, Acquisition Pace, Investments and Exits by Deal Type, Sector Specialization, Strategy Similarity, Geographic Scope, and Financial / Legal Advisors.
It's the only tool in the suite built for the side-by-side question. An Export PDF button at the bottom produces a formatted 4-page report via the browser's print dialog — sized to drop into a pitch deck, IC memo, or LP packet.
When to use it
Pitch prep — stack a target sponsor next to peers to ground your differentiation pitch.
LP diligence — compare a manager's claimed strategy to what the data actually shows.
Competitive intel — map a competitor sponsor against your portfolio's sector profile to see where you collide.
IC pre-reads — the PDF export is built for this.
Validating "differentiation" claims — Strategy Similarity quantifies it as a single number.
Where to access it
How to use it
Type a PE firm name in the search box. Pick a match.
Add up to 4 firms — the cap is intentional, beyond 4 the side-by-side stops being legible. Click ✕ on a chip to remove.
Most panels are self-explanatory. Three are worth a closer read:
Sector Specialization has a 4-way toggle: All Time / Last 5Y / Current / Exited. A firm whose "All Time" sector mix differs sharply from its "Last 5Y" mix is in transition — worth knowing.
Strategy Similarity scores each firm's sector allocation vector. `1.0` = identical sector profile, `0.0` = no overlap. Most PE pairs land between `0.4` and `0.85`. The panel also names the overlap sectors (where they compete) and differentiation sectors (where one is meaningfully more concentrated).
Financial / Legal Advisors rank by affinity, not raw count. Affinity = firm's usage minus industry baseline. A firm that uses Goldman 30% of the time when the industry uses Goldman 28% scores low (just industry usage). A firm that uses a regional bank 20% of the time when the industry uses them 3% scores high — that's a real incumbent relationship. The ranking surfaces over-indexing, not name recognition.
Tips
Two firms is the cleanest read. However add firms 3 and 4 when you need a peer-group view.
Read Strategy Summary first, Sector Specialization second. Those two answer 80% of the questions you brought to the tool.
Advisor Affinity is the most underused section. It tells you who already has the relationship — useful for both avoiding wasted pitches (incumbent will win) and finding underweight slots (your natural angle).
Pair Compare with Dossier. Compare gives you the differences numerically; Dossier gives you the story in prose.
FAQ
Q: Can I compare companies, banks, or law firms?
No — PE firms only. Most sections depend on PE-deal data structures (strategy similarity, advisor affinity, exits by deal type). For company-level comparison, use Ownership Graph or Dossier on each company individually.
Q: Why is the cap 4 firms?
Visual readability. Beyond 4 columns the side-by-side stops being legible at any reasonable screen width. Compare is built for small-N benchmarking, not screening.