Does anyone believe their firm has a true competitive edge

Everyone knows that it's increasingly difficult to compete in the PE industry, especially for the best assets that are being chased by everyone. 

Does anyone believe their firm has a truly differentiated approach or playbook? 

I've heard people talk about industry specialization as an example but that doesn't seem like enough of an edge to really drive returns, and in some instances it might work against you because your firm's returns are tied to that sector, which will eventually go through a rough period.

3 Comments
 

LMM fund here and based on LP feedback, we have a unique blend of target industries, strong proprietary sourcing capabilities, very broad and deep executive advisor network, and specialized in-house portfolio operations capabilities (not just gray haired operating partners). 

In the true middle market, I have a tough time seeing any competitive differentiation. Fund return profile is generally a much tighter range of outcomes and very hard to get outlier returns for a variety of reasons. 

 
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