Don’t Throw the (Private Equity) Baby Out with the Bathwater

Criticism over private equity opacity and high fees make strong, catchy headlines. With reason.

I am a long-time supporter of increased (business-friendly, i.e. terms that do not compromise the proper execution of deals that require absolute confidentiality) transparency in the industry and not by chance the name of my 2009 firm is Xtal Strategies… Clear? Xmas may give a clue. But back to the baby.

Calpers, SEC and the Hawthorne Effect on PE

This morning a “must read” Pulse email caught my eye before my finger could enter the “default mode” and hit the delete key on my phone. The word science, spotted in the title, won my curiosity, sneaking in through my Galilean inclination.

Fooled by IRRs (Yale, Schwarzman’s Cases)

“Everyone loves an optical illusion, except when it comes to financial results (1)”. Yet the private markets are not immune from optical illusion risks.