The future of private equity

Private equity always found ways to reinvent itself in the face of adversity. This resilience can be traced back not only to the acumen and skills of its professionals but also to the very definition of the industry's activities. Private equity is intrinsically opportunistic and evolves its business model to respond to short‐ or long‐term value creation possibilities. It is highly competitive, internally and externally, permanently adjusting to the new requirements of capital and expertise providers. Pension funds and endowments have become more assertive, questioning the performance disparities among fund managers and showing a willingness to engage in more thorough and lengthy due diligence before investing in new funds or even reinvesting in their current GPs. To be able to create operational value, private equity firms increasingly hire people with significant consulting or industrial experience and who have shown the ability to effect operational change.