Permanent private equity: Market performance and transactions

Abstract

Using market data for a comprehensive sample of publicly listed permanent capital private equity funds, I confirm existing results in the private equity literature and establish new empirical facts for private equity investments. Over 2000–2019, only mezzanine funds outperformed public markets, whereas buyout, growth, and funds of funds underperformed somewhat, and venture capital funds underperformed significantly. Buyout funds exhibit performance persistence. Larger funds with higher asset turnover have higher performance, and funds with higher expenses have lower performance. Finally, contemporaneous and out-of-sample performance of buyout and mezzanine funds is associated with deal and exit transaction characteristics.