Private equity has come a long way from its earliest days as a cottage industry almost 50 years ago. Leveraged buyout and venture capital, once considered novel concepts pioneered by a select group of financial whizzes, have become widely adopted investment strategies across all stages, sectors, and geographies. As the asset class has matured, so have the options available to investors. What was once a world that simply included “buyout” and “venture” investments in mature and early-stage companies, respectively, has morphed into several related strategies - including growth equity, sector specialist buyout, turnaround, hybrid credit-equity strategies, and natural resources (among others) – each with its own distinct risk and return profile.
The “mainstreaming” of private equity is a natural evolution of what we often forget is a relatively young asset class. However, this growth also gives rise to questions about how to access and navigate an increasingly complex ecosystem. In the following note, Canterbury seeks to “cut through the noise”, focusing on the basics of private equity and why we invest in the asset class in the first place.
Read Canterbury's Case for Private Equity