Your Custom Text Here
Most of my time is spent with operating partners and portfolio company CEOs. Many are still holding a company that was on target to sell two years ago. While the business may be performing, leadership can’t easily prove why.
For years, private equity value creation followed a familiar playbook: improve margins, grow EBITDA, complete strategic acquisitions and exit when timing is right. READ MORE
Leadership continuity is becoming a more significant consideration for private equity firms as demographic pressures tighten the market for experienced executives. A new report from Cowen Partners finds that aging CEO and CFO populations are creating succession risks that can intersect directly with a fund’s hold-and-exit timeline. For executive search firms, the trend is increasing the importance of building leadership pipelines well before a critical transition becomes urgent. READ MORE
Private equity is entering a new era.
For years, the industry relied on a familiar—and very successful—formula. Source attractive deals, add leverage, professionalize management, improve reporting, reduce costs, optimize pricing, pursue tuck-in acquisitions, capture multiple expansion and exit quickly through competitive auctions.
That formula is now much harder to execute. READ MORE
California lawmakers have sent Gov. Gavin Newsom legislation aimed at preventing private equity firms, hedge funds and other corporate investors from influencing attorneys’ decisions about litigation, according to a press release issued Wednesday.
Assembly Bill 2305, authored by Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San José, would require decisions involving litigation to remain solely with licensed attorneys and their clients. READ MORE
US private equity funds that invest in fast-growing companies without taking a controlling stake raised a record amount of capital in the first half of this year, in a sign of their strong recovery from a 2023 fundraising slump. Growth funds attracted $33.2bn in the first six months of this year, the highest first-half total on record and a 36 per cent jump from a year earlier, according to data from Preqin. Fundraising across other private equity strategies grew 20 per cent over the same period. READ MORE
Ten fund managers raised $855 billion between 2021 and 2025, nearly a quarter of the $3.6 trillion raised by the 300 largest global private equity managers combined, according to Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking. The minimum entry amount to the list reached $2.8 billion, a record. At the same time, total global capital raising fell to its lowest level since 2020, at $735 billion in 2025. The tech sector has become the largest sub-sector of private equity in both value and number of deals, according to a report by Bain & Company and perhaps that's why it captures this dichotomy more clearly than anyone else: capital is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands but the ability to understand the very product being bought doesn't always follow the same path. READ MORE
According to reports, firms including Paul Weiss, Quinn Emanuel and Proskauer have held discussions with private equity investors or financial advisers about so-called management services organisation (MSO) structures, which are designed to comply with US rules prohibiting non-lawyer ownership of legal practices.
Under the model, a law firm’s legal practice remains owned by lawyers, while a separate entity responsible for administrative services, technology, intellectual property and other business functions can accept outside investment. The legal partnership then pays the MSO for those services. READ MORE
Private equity-backed companies are holding assets longer, facing evolving market conditions and seeking ways to maximize value at exit. As a result, many organizations are exploring an initial public offering not just as a destination, but as one of several potential paths to liquidity.
During a recent RSM webinar, IPO readiness professionals discussed what companies should be thinking about long before filing registration documents. While every organization’s journey is different, the conversation highlighted a common theme: companies that prepare early create more strategic flexibility—whether they ultimately pursue an IPO, a strategic sale or another transaction. READ MORE
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping private equity (PE) fund administration—but for small business investment companies (SBICs), adoption requires a different lens. SBICs are not simply another category of private equity fund. They operate in a uniquely regulated, mission‑driven environment, with Small Business Administration (SBA) oversight layered on top of standard PE requirements. That structure fundamentally changes how AI should be evaluated, deployed and governed.
SBIC managers face ongoing examination, leverage limits, distribution requirements and highly prescriptive reporting requirements, including SBA‑specific filings such as capital certificates and Forms 468, 1031, 480 and 652. Regulatory scrutiny is continuous rather than episodic, and the cost of errors—whether classification mistakes, incomplete documentation or inconsistent application of SBA rules—is disproportionately high. READ MORE
Over the past 25 years, private equity evolved into an important allocation for institutional investors, driven by an ownership model purpose-built for longer-term value creation which, in turn, drove strong returns. In recent years, however, a healthy level of scrutiny has emerged. Private equity returns have moderated relative to the historical average time-weighted net return of approximately 13% over the prior 25 years, and some investors have begun to question what lies ahead. READ MORE
Private equity is on track to reverse two consecutive years of annual fundraising declines.
Investor commitments to global private equity funds totaled $306.78 billion this year through June 30, according to With Intelligence data. Annual fundraising by global private equity firms has exceeded $600 billion just once since 2020, though it is on track to do it again. READ MORE
Today, the American Investment Council (AIC) and the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) released a new report, “America at 250: How Private Capital Fuels American Dynamism,” examining the essential role private capital has played in fueling American economic growth, innovation, and competitiveness throughout the nation’s history.
Released in honor of America’s 250th anniversary, the report details how private investment has supported job creation, manufacturing, infrastructure, and innovation – and continues to do so, shaping America’s future. READ MORE
A new law set to take effect Friday, July 10, that limits — for the first time — private equity purchases of single-family homes takes aim at a practice blamed for reducing the availability of affordable housing. It's the latest example of how political adversaries in Washington are unifying over concerns that buyout shops increasingly make investments that critics say can gut businesses, raise prices and harm consumers. The Biden administration treated many sponsors as pariahs, accusing them of chasing short-term profits and exploiting a loophole that allows smaller assets to be consolidated without antitrust review. Private equity acquisitions were subject to intense scrutiny, with some unwound.
Under Trump, federal enforcers relaxed oversight of PE firms, declining to single them out for special treatment as state attorneys general sought to restrict their investments, especially in healthcare. READ MORE
Private equity’s recovery remains uneven. Deal activity and exit values have improved over the past two years, aided by better financing conditions for high-quality assets. Yet for many limited partners, the central question remains unchanged: When will capital begin to flow back at healthier levels? Longer hold periods, delayed exits and continued macroeconomic uncertainty have left investors focused less on paper gains and more on distributions from general partners. As a result, while fundraising remains constrained, LPs are seeing an evolution in investment structures that can help them meet liquidity needs. READ MORE
Private equity fundraising is showing signs of recovery, but the rebound is increasingly benefiting the industry's largest players, the Financial Times reported Sunday.
Global private equity fundraising topped $260 billion in the first half of 2026, putting the sector on pace to raise about 17% more this year than in 2025, according to PitchBook data. READ MORE
There are many things eye-catching about the proposed offer for easyJet by Castlelake, the Minnesota private equity company, not least that when you download the official statement detailing its £5.5 billion bid for the airline from Castlelake’s website, the PDF is entitled: “Project Citrus Draft Release”.
I love ludicrous M&A codenames. I can only presume this is a reference to easyJet’s orange branding and “Project Donald Trump’s Fake Tan” was deemed unsuitable. READ MORE
The number of private equity exits slowed during the first half of 2026, as market uncertainty continued to prevent buyers and sellers from finding common ground on valuations.
Global private equity and venture capital firms announced 1,504 exits between Jan. 1 and June 30, down 6% from the 1,601 exits recorded in the first half of 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. READ MORE
If you're lucky enough to get onto the bottom rung of the investment banking ladder through the analyst program of a major bank, you'll have to decide very quickly whether you want to stay in banking, or seek an exit opportunity on the buy side. Is it really worth making the switch?
A recent podcast featuring finance influencer High Yield Harry has unveiled figures for compensation in both banking and private equity/private credit, looking at pay for top quartile workers, and breaking down average weekly working hours. In banking, while hourly pay rises the longer that you're in the role, your working hours stay high all the way to VP, were top performers earn half a million dollars per year. READ MORE
Investors in private equity funds are increasingly turning to creative debt-like deals to generate cash amid a dearth of payouts, as the sector’s dealmaking downturn stretches on. Backers of buyout funds agreed $9bn worth of “alternative”, structured transactions last year to bring in cash from their stakes in the vehicles, up from $6bn in 2024, investment bank Jefferies told the FT. READ MORE
Private equity is staring down a growing pile of investments it can't cash out of.
Fueled by the artificial intelligence frenzy, Wall Street's 2026 deal boom is on pace to set records. But even the roaring market hasn't been enough to help the private equity industry clear out its mountain of aging portfolio companies. READ MORE
Quisque iaculis facilisis lacinia. Mauris euismod pellentesque tellus sit amet mollis.