Private Equity Findings library

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• A helping handWhat kinds of value-add can entrepreneurs expect from VC backers? 
• The right recipe?How governments spend public money on private markets 
• Winners and losersWho really gains from SPAC investments 
• Mythical no moreWhy unicorns are becoming commoner by the day

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• A winning strategyDoes private equity genuinely outperform public equity?

• The vanishing public companyIs the public company an out-of-date model in the 21st century?

• Is the race to the swift?Why some lps seem to consistently outperform their peers

• Shooting themselves in the footAre male investors neglecting female entrepreneurs at their own cost?

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• Unforeseen consequencesHow private equity investments affect competitors, sector productivity, and public markets
• Distorting mirror?The impact of subscription lines on fund performance
• Diminishing returnsDoes a leap in fund size lead to worse performance?
• LPA blues​Do small LPs lose out in LPA negotiations?
• Bigger slice, smaller pieThe venture capitalist’s share – how much is too much?

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• Managing to perfectionDo PE’s management interventions improve portfolio company performance? If so, how can GPs make their changes stick?
• Riding the cycleAre GPs able to time the markets?
• Spray and pray?How VC investment strategies have evolved
• What price returns?​Is PE investment at odds with positive social outcomes?
• Strong and stable?How VC investment strategies have evolved

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• Fool's Gold
  Do co-investments underperform fund investments?
• The truth about unicorns
  Are unicorn valuations too good to be true
• House of cards?
  Is private equity a risk to the financial system
• Value for money
  Are funds of funds really worth their fees?
• The lure of the new
  How to recognise genuinely innovative companies

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• Counting the cost
  How do top teams affect company performance?
• The management effect
  Private equity’s record on product pricing
• Follow the money
  How VC investors spot IPO lemons
• Reach for the stars
  Can LPs still rely on GPs’ track records?
• Is the US entrepreneur dying out?
  Why fewer start-ups may be no bad thing

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• Planting the right seeds
  Why some LPs outperform their peers
• The fee factor
  Why some terms are not as LP-friendly as you think
• Impact funds
  Which LPs invest in them – and should they?
• Ripples of change
  How PE investments disrupt entire business sectors
• Keeping it to themselves
  Who profits from insider rounds in VC?

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• Snakes or ladders?
  The effect of private equity ownership on the careers of portfolio company employees
• Different strokes
  How much does private equity investing vary from firm to firm?
• Going public
  How the state can drive innovation
• Lipstick on a pig?
  Do private equity firms manipulate their performance data when fundraising?
• Pick of the crop
  How venture capitalists choose their investments

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• Serving up change
  Does private equity ownership really bring operational improvements? Findings from the restaurant industry
• Profiting from progression
  How GP turnover might be good for performance
• Private equity grows up
  What happens to returns when an asset class matures?
• Damaged goods
  Lessons from a difficult investment
• Second to none
  Do secondary buyouts really underperform?
• The knock-on effect
  Does VC investment spread innovation?

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• A bitter taste 
  Why co-investments may not be the pick of the bunch
• A new model of innovation 
  Josh Lerner on the conditions for successful incubation
• Less bang for your buck? 
  How management fees impact on private equity performance
• A steady hand 
  Achieving growth through good times and bad
• SPACs 
  Treasure troves or time bombs?
• Risk aversion in venture capitalists
  How personal priorities affect investment choices

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• A position of power
  How large LPs influence GP deal decisions and how this affects fund performance. And, should other LPs be concerned?
• Talent magnet
  How PE firms attract, incentivise and retain top CEOs
• Second hands
  Drivers of liquidity and pricing in PE secondaries
• The right medicine
  How to transform a small, orphan business into a global force
• Risky business?
  Are LPs being compensated for PE’s illiquidity?
• Over the horizon
  How a fund’s lifecycle affects GP risk appetite

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• Is bigger better? 
  Does size really matter when it comes to LP investment programmes?
• Future forces 
  What will shape life, work and management in tomorrow’s portfolio company?
• Perverse incentives 
  Are managers in buyouts inherently conflicted?
• Yin and yang 
  Building a PE firm in a fast-changing economy
• The f-word 
  Are PE guys simply financial engineers or do they actually create value?
• Degrees of separation? 
  Can personal networks boost VC performance?

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• Off the rails?
  Private equity has come under fire for overleveraging companies and pushing them into distress. Is it true?
• Culture counts
  Why listing might not be such a great idea
• ​Performance puzzle
  How does buyers’ behaviour in auctions differ?
• Culture clash?
  Turning around performance in an emerging market firm
• PE vs strategics
  PE or public markets – which generates better returns?
• IPOs and innovation
  Why people should be at the heart of GPs’ branding strategies

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• The regulatory tangle
  Private equity is getting caught up in new rules designed to stabilise the global economy. Can it find a way through?
• Top of the list
  Do private equity-backed IPOs outperform or underperform their peers?
• SWFs uncovered
  Financial objectives or political considerations – what drives SWFs?
• Public to privates
  Can PE’s long-term outlook really improve company performance?
• Alumni links
  How employee networks can boost your business

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• Collusion or value add?
  How VC networks really operate
• Future performance
  Why persistence may be a myth
• Fire power
  Can CEO change boost performance?
• Lessons from the bust
  How leverage hurts returns
• The upside of turbulence
  Can PE build winners in bad times as well as good?
• Coller institute
  Promoting a leading forum for debate

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• The shape of things to come
  How buyout and VC funds will emerge from the crisis
• Implicit incentives
  Why carry counts less than we think
• Management, management, management
  Is this private equity’s trump card?
• Calling time on captives
  Should banks be principal investors in private equity?
• Coller institute
  PE Masterclass: Lives up to its name

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• Performance quirks
  Why some LPs do better than others
• VC and the state
  How can governments get it right?
• The returns debate
  Does private equity really outperform?
• Just the job?
  How buy-outs affect employment
• Annual symposium
  Examining alignment of interests

This issue focuses on the following topics:

• From credit bubble to zombie companies
  What’s next for private equity?
• Better boards
  What can public companies learn from private equity?
• Quick flips or long haul?
  The truth about buy-outs
• Busted brands
  Can the top GP names win back the banks?
• Annual Coller prize
  Best case study, best management report