July / August 2010 Issue

PEI’s Responsible Investment Forum underscored the rapidly growing momentum now behind ESG practices in private equity. But it also flagged the many challenges facing GPs and LPs in pursuing ESG-related goals, writes Amanda Janis.

With newfound appreciation for operational change, low gearing levels and the ‘traditional’ approach to private equity, mid-market private equity professionals in Germany look set to enjoy some time in the sun. But as Toby Mitchenall found out hosting a roundtable discussion in Munich in early June, there are still plenty of things to keep GPs and LPs in the country up at night

What happened to the feast of distressed investment opportunities expected to flood the US and UK markets?

The private equity party is starting to swing in Brazil, but many GPs are keen to point out that opportunities abound throughout the Latin American region.

As the chair of EVCA’s nascent LP platform, ATP PEP’s Klaus Bjørn Rühne is orchestrating a unified voice for Europe’s investors. He tells PEI about the trials facing LPs on both the home front and further afield.

More US public pensions are broadcasting their meetings to the public. GPs need to watch what they say.

Despite market chatter to the contrary, Tim Collins intends to take his firm back to market.

As AIG was falling apart in 2008, the private equity professionals at AIG Investments had to ignore the chaos, keep their teams together, reassure nervous limited partners and keep looking for deals. Eventually the principals, with their teams intact, would spin out to form PineBridge Investments, but not before facing some of the hardest challenges of their careers.

The hybrid measure to raise carried interest tax has stalled in the US Senate while the UK awaits a decision on the tax treatment of capital gains.

Washington DC is a beautiful place in the springtime, but two organisations – the PEC and ACG – are not there for the weather, writes Christopher Witkowsky.

Phoenix Equity Partners, a UK mid-market firm that traces its roots to CSFB Private Equity, in June hit the £450m hard-cap for its latest fund. PEI recently caught up with chief financial officer Steve Darrington to learn how Phoenix confronted fundraising conditions as well as looming tax and regulatory threats.

What does a jittery currency mean for European private equity?

The private equity industry awaits resolution on the AIFM directive as three-way negotiations between the EU parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission are expected to conclude in July.