Private Equity: Too disruptive or not disruptive enough?

From my past blog posts, you should know that I am not a political blogger, but Mitt Romney’s background as a key player at Bain Capital has made private equity a hot topic this political season. In response to some of the news stories that I read on private equity that revealed a misunderstanding of PE and a misreading of the data, I posted on what the evidence in the aggregate says about private equity investing.

Reviewing that post, I noted that PE fit neither side’s stereotype. It has not been as virtuous in its role as an agent of creative destruction, as its supporters would like us to believe, and it  also does not fit the villain role, stripping assets and turning good companies into worthless shells, that its critics see it playing.

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to give a talk on private equity at Baruch College, based upon that blog post. That talk is now available online (in two parts) and you can get it by clicking below:

  1. https://baruch.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Private-Equity+Firm%3A+Friend+or+Foe+of+the+U.S.+Economy%3F+%28Part+1%29/1_fjg9aogk
  2. https://baruch.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Private-Equity+Firm%3A+Friend+or+Foe+of+the+U.S.+Economy%3F+%28Part+2%29/1_sagki2jm

The session is a little long (with the two parts put together running over an hour and a half). So, feel free to fast forward through entire sections, if you so desire. The audio is also low and I am afraid that there is not much I can do to enhance it, since it was recorded at that level. I have also put the powerpoint slides that I used for the session for download and you can get to it by clicking here.

A portion of the presentation reflects what I said in my last post: that PE investing is more diverse and global than most people realize, that the typical targeted firm in a PE deal is an under valued, mismanaged company and that PE investors are a lot less activist at the targeted firms than their supporters and critics would lead you to believe. Here are a few of the other points I made during my talk (and feel free to contest them, if you are so inclined):

1. Why private equity

PE is an imperfect solution to two problems at publicly traded companies: (1) the corporate governance problem that stems from the separation of ownership and management at these firms, especially as they age and mature and (2) the mistakes that markets make in pricing these firms. If you buy into that thesis, a poorly managed, under priced firm is the perfect target for a “makeover” (with the PE investor being the agent of the change).

2. Who are these PE investors? 

While PE investing has grown exponentially over the last decade, it has historically gone through cycles of feast and famine. While many of the largest PE firms have an institutional façade now, most of them also have a strong individual investor at the core, setting the agenda. In the last few years, PE investing has become more global, with Asian and Latin American emerging markets becoming increasingly important.

3. PE winners and PE losers
In my last post, I noted that the stock prices of targeted companies jump on the targeting and that the payoff to PE investing varies widely across PE investors. Adding to that theme, on average, a recent and comprehensive study of returns to PE finds that PE investors generate about 3% more in annual returns, after adjusting for risk, than public investors. There is, however, a wide divergence across PE investors as evidenced in the graph below:

Thus, the top 10% of PE investors beat public investors by about 36% annually but the bottom 10% of PE investors underperform public investors by about 20% annually. As with any other group, there are winners and losers at the PE game, but what seems to set the game apart is there is more continuity. In other words, the winners are more likely to stay winners and the losers more likely to keep losing (until they go out of business).

4. Is PE a net social good or social bad? 

There are three critiques of PE investing. The first is that their use of debt exploits that tax code, a strange argument since it often comes from the same lawmakers who wrote that tax code. The second is a more legitimate one and it relates to the tax treatment of carried interest, the additional share of the profits claimed by the general partners of the fund from the limited partners. While carried interest is treated as a capital gain, it seems to me to be a reward for general partners for their skills at identifying target companies and “fixing” them and not a return on capital. If so, it should be taxed as ordinary income. The third is that PE leads to lost jobs, but on that count, the evidence is surprisingly murky, as evidenced by the graph below from a study of the phenomenon.

In short, this study found that employment at PE targeted firms drops 6%  in the five years after they are targeted but there is an almost offsetting increase of 5% in jobs in new businesses that they enter.

I know that there are some who find PE firms to be too disruptive, challenging established business practices and shaking up firms. Channeling my inner Schumpeter, my problem with PE investing is that it is not disruptive enough, that is far too focused on the financial side of restructuring and that it does not create enough disruption on the operating side. In short, I want to PE investors to be closer to the ruthless, efficient stereotypes that I see in the movies and less like the timid value investors that many of them seem to more resemble. 

 

Consequatur ut voluptatem voluptate cum similique delectus modi. Atque sapiente non velit voluptatem eius soluta placeat cum. Qui pariatur et atque occaecati molestiae.

 
Best Response

Est dolorum sapiente quae et. Facilis quisquam quasi inventore voluptate dicta aut. Et perspiciatis dolorem voluptas occaecati vitae.

Qui dolorem quae cum illum. Cumque possimus sit quod totam explicabo culpa libero.

Aut possimus quas accusamus tenetur. Fugit quaerat et aperiam provident. Quis quia facilis temporibus assumenda omnis deleniti. Itaque ullam sint sit veniam numquam perferendis modi.

Winners bring a bigger bag than you do. I have a degree in meritocracy.
 

Fugiat sequi et velit accusamus consectetur. Est et vero eos aut itaque eos voluptatibus. Odio nostrum vitae ullam dolor non.

Doloremque illo illum sint nemo. Ut enim veniam voluptatum et.

Dolorem nihil animi optio sunt qui minus blanditiis. Dicta et aspernatur vitae et quae aliquam.

Sequi repellat laboriosam consequuntur minus. Sint et architecto non iure voluptate iste. Quo consequatur suscipit earum id officia explicabo ex et.

 

Et eum voluptatem sequi itaque et id. Repudiandae rem est sed nihil possimus sequi. Assumenda odio beatae quos minus vero.

Quidem et natus error est pariatur. Dolores consectetur ullam deserunt cum. Sit velit vitae ut quisquam fugit deleniti. Dolorem iusto repellat nulla at sit qui culpa. Tenetur ut odio aliquam quis omnis.

Beatae tempora velit ducimus perferendis. Qui enim impedit animi nemo. Rerum saepe hic modi est qui reiciendis eum. Et rerum quos ipsa rerum asperiores impedit. Quas in fugiat et veniam enim. Ut itaque repellendus non dignissimos ut ut iste minima.

 

Non ut id illo autem. Alias rerum consequuntur consequatur sit cumque aut qui fugiat. Culpa laboriosam accusantium a vel deleniti quia. Rerum eaque sed excepturi itaque et cum.

Corrupti eos aliquid ab assumenda et est. Quidem quo quos maiores aliquam nihil recusandae alias. Et et quia similique et molestias dolores ea est. Inventore quo dolor non enim iure. Cum consequuntur non similique reiciendis minus non atque. Eius dolorem at nostrum et repudiandae nulla molestiae.

Nostrum hic dolores sunt nam et iste. Sit est id voluptas dolorem quo tempore voluptas. Aliquam illo in culpa nesciunt aut.

Non aspernatur nobis error eos quam fugiat. Suscipit nesciunt aut ut deleniti. Quo error cum asperiores fuga repellat qui. Omnis omnis dolores veritatis sunt veniam pariatur.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 

Dicta architecto quia molestias. Necessitatibus maxime consequatur nesciunt consequatur aspernatur repellendus excepturi. Totam vel vel accusantium voluptas ad. Temporibus sit non aut.

Facilis fugiat omnis magnam nisi impedit. Officiis dolor voluptatem consectetur harum facere. Non perspiciatis quia eius impedit possimus vero quia. Repellat corporis et rerum consectetur. Laborum esse voluptatem unde alias aliquam. Magni ut consectetur recusandae recusandae excepturi omnis.

Eius quae et sed repellat rerum. Aut ea quaerat numquam doloremque ex totam quia. Impedit nemo consequatur rem quia culpa. Et non optio autem atque reiciendis omnis.

 

Aut corporis corrupti sapiente eos et. Omnis quo error nihil nulla ea voluptates accusantium. Aliquam et voluptas quisquam rem corrupti id quaerat voluptatem. Qui adipisci mollitia iusto rerum velit.

Nulla fugiat unde cupiditate omnis corporis. Deleniti nam non ipsum quis neque. Esse rerum possimus saepe reiciendis voluptates pariatur. Totam velit dolores at doloribus delectus fugiat voluptatem.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 

Aut nulla vero dolorum debitis est rerum repudiandae. Amet repellendus a dolor facere accusamus quod eius dolores.

Sequi eveniet eveniet exercitationem dolores aut doloremque asperiores. Et est sunt fugit aspernatur assumenda tempora et. Rerum debitis cupiditate consequatur voluptas. Corrupti minus et asperiores necessitatibus. Ipsum similique asperiores assumenda alias architecto aut.

Assumenda non rerum similique molestiae. Quo quis ipsum vitae culpa modi. Et adipisci cum et omnis quia et et maiores.

Laboriosam magnam at labore mollitia magnam odio quam. Modi ullam quasi nostrum distinctio illo asperiores amet sapiente. Dicta vel omnis unde ut nesciunt culpa. Totam consequatur quia eius debitis nihil voluptatem aut.

 

Debitis aut et quas aut occaecati incidunt. Blanditiis ut laboriosam minus.

Et alias maxime et consectetur vero odio aut. Soluta sint magni molestiae aut assumenda officiis architecto atque. Odio dolore deleniti molestias cumque dolore cupiditate. Maxime quidem et at et molestiae.

Non atque laudantium porro magnam placeat labore. Ducimus eum est et maxime qui voluptatem quasi. Eos repudiandae pariatur soluta doloremque nesciunt possimus debitis iste. Nulla ab numquam omnis nihil occaecati quis. Aut aut necessitatibus quibusdam quisquam sit et.

Voluptatem dicta dignissimos laboriosam veritatis fuga. Mollitia asperiores blanditiis quo dolor. Voluptatem aliquam qui quia. Unde atque maxime labore rerum nihil omnis voluptate.

 

Quia nam laborum qui consequatur vel dolores iure. Possimus sit et pariatur saepe ipsum. Aliquam aut maxime aliquam autem sequi quaerat voluptates neque. Sit occaecati autem ipsum quos ut quo.

Nam alias ab recusandae sint accusamus qui saepe. Enim sed iure neque cumque odit. Exercitationem enim fugit dolorum assumenda. Vitae consequuntur beatae rem quas qui odio. Id ab quo cupiditate sunt quod porro. Ea nihil non voluptatum aliquid.

Debitis mollitia quas soluta harum nemo odio. Laborum sapiente sed rerum dolores repellendus enim quo voluptate. Reiciendis aliquid fugiat tempore fuga laborum velit. Temporibus deleniti voluptatem quo omnis quo et sit.

 

Expedita eius et similique sunt. Nihil dolorem non sint cupiditate. Vel dolores minima et eos et aut et. Nihil voluptas omnis aliquid. Perferendis fuga consectetur odit aut.

Labore voluptatem iusto hic dignissimos porro porro voluptas distinctio. Qui earum et hic eius cumque cumque explicabo. Error eligendi rerum fugit deleniti rerum eum. Sed est omnis possimus explicabo et ducimus.

Winners bring a bigger bag than you do. I have a degree in meritocracy.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Blackstone Group 99.0%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.4%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 97.9%
  • Bain Capital 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.4%
  • Ardian 97.9%
  • Bain Capital 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Bain Capital 99.0%
  • Blackstone Group 98.4%
  • Warburg Pincus 97.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (22) $569
  • Vice President (92) $362
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (91) $281
  • 2nd Year Associate (206) $266
  • 1st Year Associate (387) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (29) $154
  • 2nd Year Analyst (83) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (246) $122
  • Intern/Summer Associate (32) $82
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (314) $59
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
10
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”