Pension giant Massachusetts PRIM has outdistanced many of its peers in the race to achieve top-quartile private equity returns. Are the superior results just a fluke? A working paper issued last month by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that its outperformance stems from skill and not just chance. The four authors compared the returns achieved by investors with those that would have resulted had they picked funds […]
Madison Capital’s recent push into technology lending is bearing fruit. The Chicago mid-market lender, which in the first quarter formalized and beefed up what had been an ad hoc approach to technology, has racked up six tech platform deals so far this year, with two more expected to close by the end of October and as many as four more […]
What is the path to exit for firms that buy minority stakes in GP management companies? Industry sources are asking the question, and it doesn’t seem to have a great answer. The obvious exit is the public markets. The investors get paid when the firm goes public. But realistically, how many PE firms are going […]
Find a specialization, and focus on that with everything you’ve got. Become the best at it and build a track record using your own money, or find investors willing to fund individual deals. When you’re ready to come to market, ensure you have a built-up back office and infrastructure that shows you’re more than just […]
Here’s an eye-catching number that helps explain why many LPs hold their noses as they approve fund restructurings and give GPs more time to harvest investments in funds that may not earn a return for existing investors: First Reserve has collected more than $500 million in fees in Fund XI, which closed on $7.8 billion […]
I’m not one to begrudge someone wanting to make more money. If you’ve got the opportunity, go for it (as long as it’s legal). I want to state that right up front. Having said that, I will add that something seems a little … unsavory about former regulators moving into the industries they once regulated. At […]
JMK Consumer Growth Partners, an investor in skincare-product company Supergoop, could be heading out soon to raise a debut fund earmarked for growth equity investments. In an interview with Buyouts, co-founder John M. Kenney said he’d like to raise $100 million — and no more than that — for the fund. In fact, Kenney said, should the first […]
Investment Advisers Legislative Update — The House Financial Services Committee passed the Investment Advisers Modernization Act, which makes modest changes to the Investment Advisers Act, providing regulatory relief for private equity funds. For example, the bill updates Form PF so that private equity firms do not have to provide information on their portfolio companies; adjusts […]
To the outside world, Vista Equity Partners has always been about Chief Executive Officer Robert Smith. He is the face of and the driving force behind the firm, which has risen quickly into elite status. And so it’s fitting that in past funds Robert Smith has been the hinge on which key-man provisions get triggered. Should he […]
Our cover story gives us a great example of why private equity limited-partner agreements, at the very least headline terms and conditions, should be public. I reported a previously undisclosed dispute between California Public Employees’ Retirement System and Thomas H. Lee Partners over interpretation of language in the LPAs for Funds V and VI. The […]