In 2006, approximately $270bn of investment capital was raised by private equity firms globally. That's a lot, indeed it is larger than the annual GDP of many countries - say Denmark ($254bn), South Africa ($240bn), Ireland ($196bn) or Argentina ($183bn). It is also materially more than recent years, with a relatively paltry $75bn raised by private equity firms in 2002.
The private equity industry walks with a big footprint. On financial markets (as investors); on economies (as business operators); and on communities (as employers).
It's lucky that the outlook for the private equity industry is rosy...right?
Grab a glass of wine - or something stronger - and read a recent presentation by David Rubenstein, co-founder and MD, of The Carlyle Group (a PE firm with $56bn under management). It seems that there are some parallels with the technology bubble that burst in 2000...
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