Private Equity as an Asset Class -- Contents -- About the Author -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1 What is Private Equity? -- What is Private Equity? -- Fund investing versus direct investing -- Co-investment -- Terminology -- Different types of Private Equity investment -- Summary -- 2. What are Private Equity Funds, and How do They Work? -- Capital: Allocated, Committed, Drawn Down and Invested -- How do Private Equity Funds Work? -- Structure -- Cash flow -- Investment -- Fundraising -- Private Equity Funds Distinguished from Other Fund Types -- Hedge funds -- Infrastructure -- Private (Equity) Real Estate -- A Note on International Issues -- Summary -- 3. Private Equity Returns - The Basics -- Understanding the J-curve and Compound Returns -- Upper Quartile Figures -- Median Returns -- Average Returns -- Pooled Returns -- Using Vintage Year Returns for Benchmarking Purposes -- Time-weighted Returns -- Summary -- 4 Private Equity Returns - Multiples and Muddles -- Multiples -- Distributed over paid in (DPI) -- Paid in to committed capital (PICC) -- Residual value to paid in (RVPI) -- Total value to paid in (TVPI) -- Use of multiples in industry research -- Muddles, Muggles and Markowitz -- Returns -- Risk -- Liquidity -- Summary -- 5 Buyout -- Types of Buyout Transaction -- MBO -- MBI -- BIMBO -- LBO -- Take Private (P2P) -- Roll-up -- Secondary Buyouts -- Other 'Buyout' Activity -- PIPEs -- How do Buyouts Work? -- Characteristics of Buyout -- Established businesses -- Debt -- Earnings -- Size -- Control -- Barriers to entry -- Summary -- 6 How to Analyse Buyouts -- Earnings -- EBIT -- EBITDA -- Earnings Growth -- Multiple -- Multiple increase (sometimes called multiple arbitrage) -- Leverage -- Recapitalisation -- Timing -- Modelling and Analysing Buyout Funds -- Enterprise value -- Summary -- 7 Buyout Returns.

US versus European Buyout -- Buyout skill bases -- Imperfect markets -- Earnings multiples -- Earnings growth -- Leverage -- Contribution of different drivers -- Fund size -- Summary -- 8 Venture Capital -- What is Venture Capital? -- Backing New Applications, Not New Technology -- Classification by Sector -- IT -- Telecoms -- Life Science -- Classification by Stage -- Seed stage -- Early stage -- Mid and late stages -- Summary -- 9 How to Analyse Venture -- The Fundamentals (1) - Money Multiples -- The Fundamentals (2) - Valuation -- Valuation as an element of stated returns -- Differences in valuation approach between Europe and the US -- Variability of Venture valuations -- Pre-money and post-money valuations -- Share classes -- The Fundamentals (3) - Cost and Value -- IRRs and multiples -- Going in equity (GI%) -- Percentage of the holding within the fund -- The Impact of Home Runs -- Summary -- 10 Venture Returns -- US Outperformance versus Europe -- Money multiples drive IRRs -- Home runs and the golden circle -- Market conditions -- European Venture - Is it as Bad as it Seems? -- Returns and Fund Size -- Venture returns by stage -- What of the Future? -- Summary -- 11. Growth and Development Capital -- The PLC and the BCG Growth Matrix -- Development Capital -- Target companies -- Money in deals -- Money out deals -- Objectives -- Growth Capital -- Target companies -- Objectives -- Growth capital and late-stage Venture -- Common Issues -- Minority protection -- Exit protection -- The Future -- Summary -- 12. Secondary Private Equity Fund Investing -- Why do People Buy Secondaries? -- Time and the J-curve -- Diversification by time -- Diversification by geography and sector -- Treasury and Portfolio Secondaries -- Why do People Sell Secondaries? -- Change of strategy/leaving the asset class -- Overconcentration by time, sector or geography.

Unexpected need for cash -- Housekeeping -- Dissatisfaction with the GP -- Restrictions on Transfer -- Stapled primaries -- Secondary Methodology -- Tails -- Fees etc. -- Secondary Buyouts - A Warning -- Summary -- 13. Due Diligence -- Buyout Funds -- Venture Funds -- Co-investors -- Cross-fund Investing -- Buyout Companies -- Venture Companies -- Funds of Funds -- Growth and Development Capital -- Monitoring Private Equity Funds -- The Changing Nature of Due Diligence -- Summary -- 14. Planning Your Investment Programme -- Cash Flow Planning -- Allocated, Committed and Invested Capital -- Diversification by Time -- Proper Commitment Levels -- Diversification by Sector and Geography -- Total Return -- How to deal with uninvested capital -- Towards a New World of Private Equity Programmes? -- Summary -- 15. Trends and Issues -- Financial Crisis -- Credit -- Valuation -- Holding periods -- Secondaries -- Emerging Markets -- Concluding Thoughts -- Track record -- Returns -- Fee structures -- Private Equity at a Crossroads? -- Summary -- Glossary of Private Equity Terms -- Index.