BackFrontenac Named in HEC Paris-Dow Jones Small Cap Buyout Performance Ranking for Fourth Consecutive Year
Chicago, IL
Frontenac, a Chicago-based private equity firm, has been recognized for the fourth consecutive year as part of the HEC Paris-Dow Jones Small Cap Buyout Performance Ranking. Frontenac was ranked 9th in both 2024 and 2023 among 600+ PE firms analyzed and was ranked 14th in both 2022 and 2021 among 500+ PE firms analyzed.
Now in its fourth year, the HEC Paris-Dow Jones ranking is based on a quantitative performance analysis of the world’s small-cap private equity firms over a 10-year period. In its 2024 analysis, HEC analyzed comprehensive performance data from 649 private equity firms and the 2,662 funds they raised between 2011 and 2020.
“Frontenac is proud to once again receive this recognition from HEC Paris-Dow Jones,“ said Walter Florence, Managing Partner at Frontenac. “We are committed to building long-term, sustainable value at our portfolio companies and achieving outstanding results for our investors. This ranking is a wonderful acknowledgment of the hard work of our entire team, our partners, and our portfolio company management teams.”
About Frontenac
Frontenac is a Chicago-based private equity firm. The firm focuses on investing in lower middle market buyout transactions in the consumer, industrial, and services industries. Frontenac works in partnership with established operating leaders, through an executive-centric approach called CEO1ST®, which seeks to identify, acquire, and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and operational excellence. Over the last 50+ years, Frontenac has built a franchise working with over 325 owners of mid-sized businesses as they address complex transition issues of liquidity, management enhancement, and growth planning. For more information, please visit www.frontenac.com.
About HEC Paris
Founded in 1881, HEC Paris is a leading European Business School. Its ambition is to positively impact both businesses and society thanks to its three-pronged approach “Think, Teach, Act” and thus to contribute to a more inclusive, sustainable and prosperous world. With 178 research professors from all around the world producing and teaching unique knowledge to more than 4,500 students from 135 different countries, the HEC Paris campus serves as a laboratory for innovation and exchange which is open to the world’s diversity and challenges.
Disclaimer
The 2024 Mid-Market HEC Paris-Dow Jones Small Cap Buyout Performance Ranking, published on April 4, 2025, was led by HEC Paris Professor Oliver Gottschalg and produced by HEC Paris-Dow Jones, neither of which are affiliated with Frontenac. Performance data was compiled from Preqin or directly from PE firms. Rankings are based on a proprietary methodology that calculates aggregate performance of a PE firm across vintage years and considers relative and absolute returns. Frontenac did not pay a fee to receive this award. Reference to an award is only one piece of information relevant to an evaluation of an investment adviser such as Frontenac. This award represents information as of a specific date and time and may not reflect important information related to an evaluation of the investment adviser which has occurred prior to, or subsequent to, the award.
