Listed private equity back on track

INVESTMENT TRUSTS

Not so long ago some predicted the end of the listed private equity industry. Were people right to listen?

The credit crunch revealed a number of high-profile examples of private equity managers misjudging risk. But look beyond the headlines and it is clear the majority in the industry managed their way through the crunch and the recession. This successful group of private equity managers includes long-term players with experience of investing through business and economic cycles; it includes those, mostly mid-market players who have consistently focused on growing businesses rather than on financial engineering (as leverage is known). There may well be some managers who find it impossible...