How do you track a private equity firm's portfolio companies?
No single public filing lists a buyout firm's portfolio, so you rebuild it from several. Form ADV names the firm's private funds, Form D names the officers and directors of companies raising money, and a 13F shows listed stakes for managers above $100 million, filed within 45 days of each quarter end (SEC Form 13F FAQ, 2026).
Why is a private equity portfolio hard to see?
Private equity funds buy private companies, and private companies file little. The fund itself discloses its existence and size to the SEC, but it does not publish a holdings list the way a mutual fund does. The portfolio shows up indirectly: in the firm's own website and press releases, in company registers that name owners and directors, in the Form D filings of companies the firm backs, and in SEC filings once a portfolio company issues public debt or lists.
Step 1. Map the firm's funds in Form ADV
Look up the adviser on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site (IAPD). Schedule D, Section 7.B.(1) of Form ADV lists each private fund the adviser manages, with its gross asset value, its type, its auditor and other service providers (SEC Form ADV instructions). Section 7.A lists related persons, which often include the general partner entities.
Write down every fund name and general partner entity. You will search for them in the next steps. Our guide on how to read Form ADV explains each part.
Step 2. Read the firm's own announcements
Most buyout firms list current and past investments on their websites and announce each deal by press release. Save the list with the date you saw it, because firms remove exited companies. Cross-check each name against news coverage to date the entry and the exit.
Step 3. Search Form D filings for related persons
When a portfolio company raises money privately, its Form D lists its executive officers, directors and promoters in item 3 (SEC Form D). Partners of the buyout firm often sit on portfolio company boards, so they appear there. Run EDGAR full-text search for the names of the firm's partners and for its fund names (SEC EDGAR full-text search FAQ). Each Form D that names a partner as a director is a lead to confirm.
A Form D does not name investors, so a partner on the board shows a link but falls short of proving ownership. Confirm it with a press release or a register.
Step 4. Check 13F filings for listed holdings
A 13F lists long positions in US-listed equities for managers above the $100 million threshold (SEC Form 13F FAQ). Most buyout firms hold few listed shares, so a 13F is useful mainly for portfolio companies that have gone public and that the firm still holds. Compare quarters to see the firm sell down after an IPO. Our guide on how to read a 13F filing shows how.
Step 5. Confirm ownership in company registers
For UK companies, the Companies House register shows people with significant control, which for a buyout often names a holding company controlled by the fund (GOV.UK, people with significant control). Follow the chain of holding companies up to the fund. GLEIF's Level 2 data shows direct and ultimate parents for entities with an LEI (GLEIF). Our guide on how to find who owns a company covers other registers.
Step 6. Watch for debt filings and exits
Portfolio companies that issue public bonds file with the SEC, and their offering documents name the sponsor. Merger proxies and S-4 filings name the seller when a listed company buys a portfolio company. Keep a simple table: company, fund, entry date, evidence, exit date, evidence. Each row should cite at least one primary record.
Where does Tamarly Intelligence fit?
Tamarly Intelligence is Tamarly's research platform on companies, funds, countries and markets, built from official filings and open data. It covers 15,359 fund managers from SEC filings, institutional holders from 13F on company pages, a deals database built from SEC merger filings and a private equity workflow. Every figure links to the filing or record it came from. Tamarly does not show investor names on private rounds or fund performance benchmarks.
Research fund managers and their companies from SEC filings, free for 7 days
Frequently asked questions
Do private equity firms have to disclose their portfolio companies?
Not in a single public list. Advisers report their private funds on Form ADV, and managers above $100 million in 13(f) securities report listed equity positions on Form 13F (SEC Form 13F FAQ). Holdings in private companies come out through press releases, registers and deal filings.
Does Form ADV list a fund's investments?
No. Schedule D lists each private fund, its gross asset value and its service providers, but not the companies the fund owns (SEC Form ADV instructions).
How do I know when a private equity firm has sold a company?
Watch for the firm's press release, a merger filing that names it as seller, a change of persons with significant control on Companies House, or its name dropping from the company's Form D related persons in a later filing.
About the author. Melvine Manchau is the founder of Tamarly and author of the Tamarly Newsletter. He previously worked at PwC, Salesforce, BlackRock/eFront and Lazard.
About Tamarly Research. Tamarly Research is part of Tamarly Media, which holds no investment positions. Tamarly is a New York research house that studies how AI is changing regulated institutions.