Private Equity
Ever wonder what your industry peers think of their bosses, or what kinda money they expect to make? Well Semaphore, a Boston-based advisory firm, does. The firm launched an informal survey to cover the rarely asked questions, like, how confident are you in your competitors, and do I expect to make more, less, or the same amount of money in 2009? The firm has already provided peHUB with a few preliminary results, such as, 55% of respondents predict their personal income to rise in 2009, while only 20% believe it will fall. Meanwhile 35% of respondents lack confidence in the private equity industry. (The firm didn't specify how many out of the 3,000 asked have taken the survey thus far.) You can take the two-minute survey here, and check back at peHUB for more results:
2 min read · 29 December 2008
1 min read · 24 December 2008
My email inbox looks a bit like Times Square with all the flashing and sparkling holiday love it’s been getting. I have received countless holiday e-cards from various contacts (thank you all kindly), but thus far, absolutely no real dead-tree cards. A few of them even say “We’re sending e-cards this year,” indicating that that was not in case in years past, where I remember getting real, signed cards and not just an overlooked email. That was special only because our inboxes are already clogged with hundreds of unsolicited emails that are a chore to clear out, but snail-mail is a novelty. I can only assume that if cut-backs go as deep as Christmas parties (see: Wall Street) and pencils (see: GM), they’re going to include frivolous postage on glittering holiday greetings to bloggers like myself. Regardless of whether or not old fashioned tree-killing cards ever return, if there’s anyone out there today, here is my e-card to you. I was even nice enough to keep it out of your already-clogged inbox.
1 min read · 24 December 2008
3 min read · 24 December 2008
The latest issue of BusinessWeek has a pretty big section of articles catering to would-be or current MBAs. So I thought I'd highlight my favorites: Cracking the Admissions Code: "It turns out business school is inherently extreme. Take 500+ hardworking, determined self-starters with a few years of work experience and a false sense of yuppiedom, then bring them to a hotbed of academia." (BusinessWeek) Shame: The diversity of students' ethnicities at B-schools is shrinking, not growing. That's bad news for schools like the Kelly School, Cornell, and Chicago Booth School of Business. Recruiters have noticed. (BusinessWeek) Speaking of Booth: The school ranked first, above Harvard, on BusinessWeek's ranking of the best U.S. business schools for 2008. (BusinessWeek)
1 min read · 23 December 2008
Shock Value: !?!Could Google, Microsoft and Yahoo be the next Ford, GM and Chrysler!?! The comparison, based on M&A history. (Dealbook) Blackstone: A fund that invests in Blackstone Group and other public private equity firms got named one of the worst funds of the year, according to Morningstar. Q&A: What PE can teach the government about rescue investing? Even though their interests aren't aligned, this is an interesting question and good interview by Deal Journal with Lynn Tilton, the founder of Patriarch Partners (which purchased the elusive AriZona Iced Tea earlier this year). Your Favorite Start-Ups: Much Easier than picking a favorite kid I'm sure. Not many kids have balance sheets. (BusinessWeek) Catching Up: A new survey supports what PE pros have been cramming down our throats for years. "It's not about leverage and financial engineering." Often key phrases like "operational expertise" and "partnering with management" are used. Anyways, here's an uplifting survey comparing board members on public companies and PE-backed entities. (Recent contradicting quote from a unnamed PE source: "Boards? Why would we have a board? We don't need a board, we're a private equity firm. That's why we're private!") Why Infectious Greed is Great: A link, a compliment, a quote and a rant. Paul Kedrosky on the NYT behemoth of a Madoff story. (11 bylines?)
2 min read · 23 December 2008
“Giving money back is something VCs did after the bubble, but PE firms will never do it.” That’s what I was told six months ago when I asked GPs struggling in the fundraising market if they’d ever decide, “Maaaaybe we don’t need that much money in this environment.” Then firms like Blackstone and Madison Dearborn lowered their targets. Then rumors of LPs missing their capital calls spread like wildfire. And now we have the next logical step: Firms allowing LPs to scale back their commitments. Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that TPG had followed in the footsteps of Permira, allowing its investors to cut their commitments to the $20 billion vehicle by as much as 10%, or $2 billion. TPG is the second firm to allow such a move, but the Permira (the first) move looks a bit different and here’s why: TPG is much more benevolent than Permira.
2 min read · 23 December 2008
Topic Du Jour: Wall Street is a source of inspiration for filmmakers right now, as the sequel of the movie of the same name is being shot and Michael Moore switches the focus of his documentary film to it. There's more. (Dealbook) Ten Predictions For The New Year: That are all pretty hopeful. Including the worst-performing global market for 2009 (hint: its not financial), the fate of Steve Jobs and M&A deals for Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs. Thanks, Deal Journal. More Lists: Predicting bankruptcies and companies that just may not exist this time next year. Safe assumptions like AIG and Chrysler. Interesting choices of NYT, Ride Aid and Nortel. Others: (24/7 Wall Street) Good PR Move: Even though she didn't do anything wrong, PR Firm Brunswick suspended the woman who's husband stole and traded on confidential merger news she had. (Bloomberg)
1 min read · 23 December 2008
2 min read · 22 December 2008
Backstabbing: A Lehman trader stole info about pending M&A deals from his public relations wife?! And then gave it to 20 of his friends to trade on?! At least in Barbarians at the Gate the PR/financier husband-wife team worked together! What a horribly desperate dude. (CNBC) Call-Outs: Cerberus, update your web site already! You can't ignore the fact that you're all over the headlines forever. (PE Database) Agreed: Paul Kedrosky mathematically argues that Madoff wasn't as unsophisticated as commentators say he was. (Infectious Greed) Asleep at the Wheel: Madoff's accountant wrote an essay about how surprising it is to find ATMs overseas. Really.
1 min read · 19 December 2008
