Fundraising

Banks and insurers – two significant players in the domestic French LP base – are being pulled away from asset class.

Research by Zurich-based asset management and advisory firm, Strategic Capital Management, shows limited partners pushed GPs over terms during the fundraising process in 2009. PERE Magazine, April 2010 issue.

This week, when LPs – particularly the California Public Employees’ Retirement Systen – had something to say, GPs listened.

Whether it’s down to a history of smart buys or smart sales, investors in 2009 looked to fund managers’ track record before committing to real estate vehicles. Jonathan Brasse, Zoe Hughes and Robin Marriott spoke to three GPs about their recent fund closes to discover the secrets of their success. PERE Magazine, April 2010 issue.

Raising a private equity fund in 2010 is not a task for the fainthearted – long gone are the days when GPs could easily double fund sizes and rely on re-ups. With colour-coded references to the Capital Pursuit! board game in April’s issue, PEI examines a selection of the complex issues one must navigate in today’s global fundraising market.

If reports that several private equity firms have retained counsel to look into anti-trust issues related to the ILPA guidelines are true, it would seem that GPs are trying to pull the pendulum back in their direction.

Bill Thompson, Walter Stackler, Pamela Wright and Fredrik Elwing have all left to join the New York-based bank. Greenhill said its expansion into the real estate capital raising business was a ‘natural step’.

With some LPs hesitant to give GPs carte-blanche with their money, the popularity of the pledge fund has resurged. Fadi Samman of law firm Akin Gump highlights some issues to keep in mind when negotiating the terms and conditions for such a vehicle.

David Snow explores why some GPs are so freaked out over a set of guidelines.

Keeping the pending AIFM directive from hindering LP-GP relationships and global capital flows was chief among concerns discussed by PE insiders gathered in Geneva this week, writes Philip Borel.