How many PE firms are there gonna be?

Is it just me or does it seem like there’s just a mega assortment of funds now that are just starting up like your local starbucks. Will we see a PE bubble in the future? Similar to tech? I wouldn’t doubt it. Or maybe the market will be so over saturated that each deal will be a blood sucking bidding war.

What do you guys think? Thoughts? Maybe I’m far off from this? Or maybe I’m spot on. I’m curious to hear what you guys think?

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Overall, I think expected returns in PE are likely to reduce as investors pile into PE asset class given low yields in many other asset classes.

Trends over the last 1-2 years don't show this in a strong way, at least for North America PE. The fundraising in 2020 (covid affected) wasn't as strong as 2019. Valuations have increased significantly across a number of sectors so required equity was higher. 

I am not sure about a bubble bursting event though as debt is fairly covenant light these days so write downs to 0 unlikely. Write down still possible (likely?) in the interim due to high entry valuations in listed comps. However, if some multiple contraction still makes the base case work then investors still should be satisfied with returns generated. 

 
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