Publications

2024
Working Paper

Long-run Returns to Impact Investing in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies

By: Shawn Cole, Martin Melecky, Florian Mölders and Tristan Reed

We provide the first evidence on the long-run returns to private equity in emerging and frontier markets using the cash flows from every equity investment made by the International Finance Corporation across 130 countries over 58 years. Risk-adjusted returns are... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Investment; Emerging Markets; Developing Countries and Economies; Investment Return

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Private Equity Finance - Course Catalog

HBS Course Catalog Private Equity Finance Course Number 1440 Senior Lecturer Ted Berk Fall; Q1Q2; 3.0 credits 28 Sessions Exam Overview This is an advanced corporate finance course focused on View Details

Winter 2009
Article

Is Private Equity Out of Control in Latin America?: The Impact of Structures on Private Equity Transactions in Latin America 1988-2007

By: Roberto Charvel

This article explores the private equity industries in 25 Latin American countries from 1988 to 2007. View Details

Keywords: Latin America; Entrepreneurial Finance; Business Startups; Business Cycles; Development Economics; Economic Systems; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Assets; Capital Markets; Venture Capital; Capital Structure; Private Equity; Latin America; North and Central America

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January 2024
Technical Note

Venture Capital and Private Equity Funds: A Primer

By: Jo Tango and Christina Wallace

How do venture capital and private equity funds actually work? This Technical Note covers the "when, who, and how" details:

"When": fund length, extensions, and when investors can no longer initiate new investments.
"Who": who is in the General... View Details

Keywords: Fund Flows; Fund Management; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment Funds

01 Sep 2017
News

Is Private Equity Blockchain’s Killer App?

like your Facebook page. And like Facebook, access to blockchain ledgers can vary: A new profile photo might be accessible to everyone in your social network, while you might grant only your family the ability to see a picture of your kid’s birthday party. Applied to a... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

August 2020
Background Note

US Private Equity Firms: ESG and Impact (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Holly Fetter

This Note has two parts. The first part (A) explores how U.S. private equity firms are incorporating ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance) factors and impact objectives into their investment strategies and firm practices. It is based on publicly available... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Financial Services Industry; United States

Hit with an industry recession and the global financial crisis of 2008, in January 2009 LyondellBasell Industries AF S.C.A., one of the world's largest internationally diversified chemical companies and headquartered in The Netherlands, placed its U.S. operations... View Details

Article

What Do Private Equity Firms Say They Do?

By: Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

We survey 79 private equity investors with combined assets under management (AUM) of over $750 billion about their practices in firm valuation, capital structure, governance, and value creation. Investors rely primarily on internal rate of return (IRR) and multiples to... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Valuation; Capital Structure; Value Creation

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May 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Background Note

Upstream Oil and Gas Private Equity

By: Victoria Ivashina, Graham Patton and Tyler Todd

Keywords: Private Equity; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Sources

08 Jan 2020
Blog Post

Know Your Audience - Recruiting HBS Students for Private Equity

Director and Career Coach Katja Frey – Recruiting Relations Manager Together, Jonathan and Katja make up the Career & Professional Development team that manages relationships with Private Equity firms... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity

August 2020
Background Note

US Private Equity Firms: ESG and Impact (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Holly Fetter

This is the second part of a two-part note. The first part (A) explores how US private equity firms are incorporating ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance) factors and impact objectives into their investment strategies and firm practices. It is based on publicly... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Financial Services Industry; United States

2015
Working Paper

Replicating Private Equity with Value Investing, Homemade Leverage, and Hold-to-Maturity Accounting

By: Erik Stafford

Private equity funds tend to select relatively small firms with low EBITDA multiples. Publicly traded equities with these characteristics have high risk-adjusted returns after controlling for common factors typically associated with value stocks. Hold-to-maturity... View Details

Keywords: Value Investing; Endowments; Investment Management; Asset Pricing; Private Equity; Investment; Management; United States

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April 2006 (Revised April 2012)
Background Note

The Role of Private Equity Firms in Merger and Acquisition Transactions

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Explores the importance of private equity firms in merger and acquisitions activity around the globe. In many countries, these firms now account for one quarter of the total merger and acquisition activity of all firms. The larger private equity firms generate fees for... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Investment Funds; Value Creation

11 May 2015
Working Paper Summaries

What Do Private Equity Firms Say They Do?

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan & Vladimir Mukharlyamov; Financial Services

2024
Working Paper

Does the Case for Private Equity Still Hold?

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Philipp Chvanov

Private Equity (“PE”) received a 10-fold increase in capital flows since the Great Financial Crisis (“GFC”) Investors sought higher nominal returns relative to those they could obtain in the public capital markets. This paper questions the fundamental assumptions... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Financial Markets