Kevin Ley

Boris Johnson on regulatory restraint.

An anonymous placement agent on proposed rules for the placement business.

Coller Capital’s Jeremy Coller on the need for better terms and conditions.

The year 2009 was an eventful one for private equity. Managers of private equity firms learned a number of important lessons, which will likely guide how they do business in 2010 and beyond. Kevin Ley details five takeaways from 2009.

After hearing evidence from industry witnesses about “protectionist” elements of proposed EU regulations, the UK’s House of Lords has written to the Financial Services Secretary about the threat to the EU’s global competitiveness.

The US House of Representatives will vote next week on legislation that would require private fund managers with assets over $150 million to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If approved the bill will then go on to the Senate.

If the hiring market picks up, more funds may want to consider annual vesting provisions to reward better-performing employees and to hold on to senior executives.

A survey of 120 UK fund managers found that over a third of respondents expect their next fund to be bigger than their current one. Portfolio management, new investments and exits are the biggest priorities for GPs over the next year.

Representatives from the £13 billion Wellcome Trust and the UK Financial Services Authority testified before the UK House of Lords Tuesday about the potentially painful impacts from EU fund manager regulations, including loss of access to funds and marketing restrictions. House members said they would address such concerns in upcoming meetings with the European Commission.

The UK regulator has found that fund managers may incur billions in compliance costs, while EU investors would lose access to some managers, should the AIFM Directive be passed.