Practical Applications of The Returns of Private Equity Funds: A Swiss Perspective

Practical Applications Summary

Daniel Steger, of EIC Partners AG in Zurich provides new research on private equity funds that will be of interest to both academics and practitioners. Building a unique database from detailed fund-level information, he seeks to bring clarity to private equity fund returns in absolute terms and relative to the public equity markets.

Steger finds that PE funds tend to outperform the public markets, but because the results are heterogeneous, investors’ returns vary widely by the type of fund they choose, and the benchmarks used to measure the funds.