Survey Says: LPs Are Confusing
Ah, the cognitive dissonance of limited partners... A few months back, I moderated a Columbia University panel at which LPs said: (a) The best returns come from investments made during economic trouble; and (b) We're not going to invest much until 2011. No, it wasn't an argument in support of a double-dip recession. It was cowardice trumping intellect. Today we have a new example, courtesy of the Private Equity Barometer, a bi-annual survey of limited partners conducted by Coller Capital (download full study here). It finds that more than half of all limited partners have lifetime returns from private equity of 10% or less. At the same time, more LPs plan to increase their exposure to private equity (20%) than plan to decrease their exposure (13%).
