J.P. Morgan Private Assets Index: JPAX-Middle Market Index Monitor - August 2026

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Sources: JPMorgan, Claude

Revenue growth

  • Health Care trailing 12M revenue growth +18.2%, highest of all sectors; IT second at +14.7%.

  • Health Care YTD revenue +10.2%, 3M +4.6%, 1M +1.7%.

  • Newest filings show Health Care accelerating: +4.57% June-August vs +3.70% March-May; IT slowed to +1.43%.

  • Among the six key industries (Figure 4), Health Care leads YTD and 12M, ties Consumer Discretionary at 1M.

  • Utilities (+6.5% 3M, +10.3% YTD) and Consumer Staples (+5.5% 3M) edge Health Care on short windows.

Sub-sector revenue

  • Pharma/Biotech/Life Sciences 12M revenue +23.9%, fastest sub-sector in the index.

  • Pharma 1M revenue +3.4%, the highest single-month print of any sub-sector.

  • Health Care Equipment & Services 12M revenue +15.0%, YTD +10.8%, 3M +4.0%, 1M +0.4%.

  • Pharma YTD (+9.4%) trails Equipment & Services (+10.8%) despite stronger 12M; Pharma growth is back-loaded.

Index returns and attribution

  • Health Care 12M index return +42.2%, second to Consumer Staples (+42.4%); IT returned -10.5%.

  • Health Care YTD return +25.9%, 3M +23.2%, 1M +6.9%.

  • Health Care 12M return compounds from +18.2% revenue, -3.4% net-debt drag, +24.6% multiple expansion.

  • Multiple expansion contributed more to Health Care’s 12M return than revenue growth did.

  • Health Care 3M PME +20.7% and YTD PME +17.4%; public comps are re-rating the sector.

  • Net-debt drag: Equipment & Services -4.4%, Pharma -2.1%, sector -3.4%, all worse than index -2.4%.

Sub-sector returns

  • Pharma/Biotech 12M return +87.0%, driven by +55.6% multiple expansion plus +23.9% revenue.

  • Equipment & Services 12M return +20.2%, mostly revenue; multiples added only +9.1%.

  • Pharma 3M return +29.9% vs Equipment & Services +18.6%; PME +25.3% vs +17.8%.

Long-run performance (Figure 9)

  • Health Care cumulative index roughly 275-280 (Aug 2020 = 100), below IT and Consumer Discretionary, above Industrials.

  • Health Care’s cumulative line rose sharply through 2026 while IT fell from its ~380 peak.

Credit and profitability ratios (Figure 11; read from low-resolution table, treat as approximate)

  • Health Care Debt-to-EBITDA ~1.99x vs index 1.76x; fell ~0.27x in August.

  • Health Care Debt-to-Equity ~0.42x, roughly in line with index 0.40x.

  • Health Care Interest Coverage ~8.0x, about half the index 16.36x; down ~2.6x YoY.

  • Health Care coverage decline is second-largest after Communication Services (-3.83x).

  • Health Care current ratio ~2.2x, quick ratio ~1.6x, DSCR ~2.6x (down ~0.4x YoY).

  • Health Care operating margin ~3% and ROE ~8% vs index 5% and 16%.

  • Pharma/Biotech Debt-to-EBITDA ~3.1x, the most levered Health Care sub-sector; coverage ~4.5x.

Coverage gaps in the report

  • Leverage deep dive (Figures 12-17) has no sector split; no Health Care-specific leverage-tier data.

  • Report does not break Health Care out by revenue cohort or EBITDA margin bucket.