American Investment Council

What American Investment Council does

The American Investment Council (AIC) is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit trade association founded in 2007 that represents the U.S. private equity and private credit industries. Its 34 Principal and General member firms include most of the largest U.S. private equity and growth capital managers (Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global Management, The Carlyle Group, Bain Capital, TPG, Thoma Bravo, Vista Equity Partners, Warburg Pincus, Advent International, Adams Street Partners, Goldman Sachs), alongside a separate Associate membership tier for service providers including Platinum members Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins.

The organization functions as the industry's unified advocacy, research, and coordination body. Its core activities are federal and state policy advocacy (including litigation participation such as the successful challenge to the FTC's 2024 HSR rule), publication of recurring research reports on private equity returns, pension fund performance, small/mid-market business investment, and the economic contribution of the industry (produced in partnership with PitchBook and EY), and the operation of specialized working groups for General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officers, Tax Directors, Regulatory, Research/IR, Retailization, and State issues. Marketing and public-affairs channels include the investmentcouncil.org website, LinkedIn, X (AmericaInvests), research publications, YouTube video content, podcast appearances, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport advertising, and newsletter sponsorships.

AIC operates on a subscription-based membership model with annual dues (not publicly disclosed), structured across Principal/General, Associate, and Platinum/Gold/Silver/Bronze tiers. It does not sell products or services commercially. Headcount is in the 11-50 range, with a senior leadership team led by President & CEO Will Dunham and a Board of Directors chaired by Pamela Hendrickson of The Riverside Company. The underlying industry footprint AIC represents is substantial: PE deployed approximately $1.15 trillion in 2025, private credit $625 billion in 2024, supporting 13.3 million jobs at PE-backed companies and 34 million Americans whose retirements depend on PE-backed pension returns.

Name

American Investment Council

Legal name

The American Investment Council

Website

https://investmentcouncil.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The American Investment Council is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit trade association founded in 2007 that represents 34 leading U.S. private equity and private credit firms, providing federal and state policy advocacy, industry research, and peer working groups on regulatory, legal, and tax issues.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industry Trade Association and Advocacy Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392), Political Organizations (813940)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Equity Fundraising Placement (FSAEALAB)

Keywords

• Private equity advocacy
• Trade association services
• Industry research publications
• Policy advocacy research
• Regulatory comment letters

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: The AIC generates revenue through membership fees from private equity, private credit, and fund of funds investment firms. Membership tiers include Principal & General Membership, Associate Membership (for service providers), and Platinum/Gold/Silver/Bronze Associate Members with different fee levels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The American Investment Council is a non-profit trade association that recruits private equity, private credit, and fund-of-funds investment firms as members and delivers them federal and state policy advocacy in Washington, original industry research, legislative and regulatory updates, and peer networking through specialized workstreams covering General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officers, Tax Directors, Regulatory, Research/IR, Retailization, and State issues. It represents more than two-thirds of the U.S. private credit industry and advocates for policies supporting job creation, small business growth, retirement security, and broader capital-markets access.

Product overview

The American Investment Council (AIC) is a trade association and advocacy organization for the private equity and private credit industries, not a product or technology company. It does not offer commercial products or services for sale. The AIC provides membership-based advocacy, research, and industry coordination services to its member firms, including policy representation in Washington D.C. and states, access to industry reports and regulatory updates, engagement in topic-specific working groups, and promotion of investment activities. All content on the AIC website pertains to advocacy, research publications, industry statistics, and member firm coordination rather than commercial product offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AmericaInvestes: Social media brand/platform for the American Investment Council's public-facing communications

Products and services

• Principal & General Membership Membership tier for private equity, private credit, and fund-of-funds investment firms, providing direct advocacy to federal and state decision-makers, industry reports, legislative updates, and peer engagement through specialized workstreams covering General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officers, Tax Directors, Regulatory, Research-Investor Relations, Retailization, and State issues. Members include Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, Carlyle, Bain Capital, TPG, Thoma Bravo, Vista Equity Partners, Warburg Pincus, Adams Street Partners, Advent International, and Goldman Sachs.
• Associate Membership (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze) Membership tier for service providers to the private equity and credit industries (law firms, accounting firms, consulting firms, and other service providers) such as Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins. Provides industry visibility, networking with principal members, and access to AIC publications and events under tiered sponsor levels.
• Policy Advocacy and Comment Letters Federal and state policy advocacy service for members, including submission of comment letters to agencies such as the Department of Labor, NAIC, and FTC, and active litigation advocacy (e.g., challenge to the FTC's 2024 HSR Final Rule alongside the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable).
• Industry Research Reports and Publications Original research reports on private equity performance, secondaries market, small and mid-market investments, public pension returns, and economic impact, produced in partnership with PitchBook, EY, Cambridge Associates, and academic researchers. Examples include the Private Equity Secondaries Market report, the report on private equity delivering stronger long-term returns than any other asset class, the report on private equity investments boosting small and mid-market businesses, and the annual public pension study.
• Peer Engagement Workstreams Topic-specific member peer-leadership workstreams covering General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officers, Tax Directors, Regulatory, Research-Investor Relations Committee, Retailization, and State issues, providing structured collaboration and working-group engagement for senior leaders across member firms.
• Industry News Summaries and Member Update Calls Daily Industry News Summaries and member update calls provided to AIC member firms to keep them informed on legislative, regulatory, and industry developments affecting private equity and private credit.

Quantifiable outcome

• Private equity generates 13.5% median annualized returns over 10 years, outperforming all other asset classes
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Dr. David T. Robinson (Duke University)minorOthers · 1 June 2026Dr. Robinson, professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, conducted a study submitted with AIC's DOL comment letter showing alternative assets outperformed public benchmarks net of fees over 10-year time horizons.
• Dr. Conrad Ciccotello (University of Denver)minorOthers · 1 June 2026Dr. Ciccotello, Director of the Reiman School of Finance at University of Denver, conducted research on defined contribution retirement portfolios showing 40% target date funds allocating 15% to alternatives could generate $262 billion additional savings over 10 years.
• Ownership WorkscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Ownership Works is a nonprofit initiative that builds employee wealth by expanding shared employee ownership of companies. Multiple AIC member firms (KKR, Blackstone, Riverside, New Mountain Capital, Leonard Green & Partners) have partnered with Ownership Works to enable employees to benefit from company success.
• PitchBookcoreOthersPitchBook provides data and analytics for AIC research reports on private equity trends, fund performance, and sector investment. Reports including the Private Equity Secondaries Market report and quarterly trends reports use PitchBook data.
• EY (Ernst & Young)coreOthersEY collaborates with AIC on economic impact research, including the annual report on the economic contribution of the US private equity sector. EY provides analysis on jobs, wages, GDP, and state-level economic data.
• Cambridge AssociatesminorOthersCambridge Associates provides research and benchmarks that reinforce AIC findings on private equity performance. Their research shows institutions with higher private investment allocations experienced higher returns historically.
• Georgetown University Center for Retirement InitiativesminorOthersGeorgetown CRI publishes research on retirement savings showing that adding private assets to retirement portfolios could improve outcomes by 7-8% and generate $35 billion in additional retirement savings per year.
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)minorOthersAIC submits comment letters to NAIC on regulatory matters affecting private equity and credit, including CLO factors and RBC calculations for asset-backed securities.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA): Leading trade association for broker-dealers, investment banks, and securities firms; directly comparable to AIC as a D.C.-headquartered advocacy organization representing Wall Street and capital-markets participants on policy, tax, and regulatory issues.
• Managed Funds Association (MFA): Trade association representing the hedge fund and alternative investment industry in Washington; comparable membership model, regulatory advocacy focus, and policy research output for the private-credit-adjacent alternative asset community.
• National Venture Capital Association (NVCA): The primary trade association for the U.S. venture capital industry; operates an analogous D.C. advocacy, research, and membership model representing VC and growth-equity firms that often overlap with AIC's growth-capital members.
• Investment Company Institute (ICI): Leading association representing regulated investment companies (mutual funds, ETFs, closed-end funds); highly comparable as a D.C.-based trade association whose members include major AIC counterparties and that engages in similar research, lobbying, and public-affairs work.
• National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit): Trade association representing REITs and publicly traded real estate companies; structurally analogous as a D.C.-based advocacy, research, and membership organization representing institutional real-asset investors, with overlapping federal tax-policy interests.
• The Real Estate Roundtable: Coalition of senior real estate industry executives that lobbies on tax, capital-markets, and regulatory issues; mirrors the AIC's small-staff, senior-executive-driven D.C. advocacy model in an adjacent private-capital sub-industry.

Broad incumbents

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce: The largest broad-based business advocacy organization in the U.S.; co-litigated the HSR challenge with AIC and serves as a comparable D.C. lobbying platform, though with a vastly broader membership and mandate than AIC's PE-specific focus.
• Business Roundtable: Association of major U.S. corporate CEOs that advocates for pro-business policy; co-litigant with AIC in regulatory challenges and overlapping member leadership (multiple PE CEOs sit on BRT), but with a corporate-America-wide remit rather than PE-specific.
• Bank Policy Institute (BPI): Policy and advocacy group for major U.S. banks; operates in adjacent financial-services policy space on capital, liquidity, and prudential regulation, and is a natural counterparty/ally to AIC on bank-like rules for private credit.
• American Bankers Association (ABA): The principal trade association of the U.S. banking industry; comparable as a large D.C. advocacy organization with state-government affairs infrastructure and a research/policy apparatus, providing a benchmark for how AIC could scale its operations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AmericaInvests
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-investment-council
• Facebookfacebook.com/AmericanInvestmentCouncil

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about American Investment Council