Publications
& Policy

Journal of applied corporate finance: PE can incorporate ESG principles to create more value and reduce risk

In this response, we stress the need for ESMA to stick to a high-level principles-based approach, recognising the diversity among market practitioners and allowing a certain level of flexibility in implementation (according to the proportionality principle). In addition, it is important to avoid treating ESG as a standalone or overriding risk category in the deal process, but rather to consider it as a category of direct business risks, which should be incorporated in existing functions and processes.

In this response, we express our support for ESMA’s proposed high-level principles-based approach, avoiding overly prescriptive rules, which could increase the risk of regulatory arbitrage. We also support ESMA’s recognition that any changes introduced should be applied by firms with the proportionality principle in mind, taking into account the size, nature, scale and complexity of their activities.

In this joint AIC/Invest Europe response, the private equity industry welcomes the two-step approach taken by IOSCO in determining consistent measures of leverage globally and advises the international regulator to explicitely exclude fund's exposures backed by uncalled commitments from the leverage calculation.

The Journal of Alternative Investments: Attempt to assess private equity’s realized and estimated expected return edges over lower-cost public equity counterparts.

A detailed briefing for Invest Europe members on regulation affecting the private equity industry.

This paper looks at factors / policies in Europe that can support companies with growth potential to become scale-up companies.

"In our previous survey (Diversity VC, 2017), we collected data regarding gender diversity in the venture capital community. In our latest analysis, we surveyed a broader set of metrics – relating to ethnicity, education and career history – to provide greater insight into the UK’s venture capital workforce."

As the current economic expansion chugged into its ninth full year in 2018, the global private equity (PE) industry continued to make deals, find exits and raise capital at a historic five-year pace. Limited partners (LPs) remain highly enthusiastic and have continued to flood the market with fresh capital. Keeping the momentum going, however, has hardly been easy. Chronically heavy competition has driven deal multiples to historic highs, and growing jitters about an eventual economic downturn are affecting decision making, from diligence to exit planning. For general partners (GPs), putting record amounts of capital to work means getting comfortable with a certain level of discomfort when investing. They are paying prices they swore they would never pay and looking to capture value that may prove elusive post-close. The most effective GPs are stepping up their game to identify targets and sharpen diligence, while simultaneously planning for the worst. In Sections 2 and 3, we’ll explore several strategies firms are using to make the most of an increasingly difficult market. In the meantime, here’s what happened in 2018.

In this paper, the PAE welcomes the opening of interinstitutional negotiations on the insolvency file and puts forward several suggestions including on the cross-class cram down, voting procedure for approval of restructuring plans, debt-discharge period for entrepreneurs and the stay on enforcement of actions.

In this response we stress the industry's support to the creation of a new category of long term equity exposures subject to a lower risk-weight, while explaining why the criteria proposed by the Commission to determine which investments fall into this category are inappropriate from our perspective.

In this response the PAE details the industry's concerns regarding the scope of the Key Information Document Regulation and the need to adapt it to sophisticated investors. It also highlights the irrelevance of existing performance scenarios for closed-ended and illiquid funds.

EIF: This European Small Business Finance Outlook (ESBFO) provides an overview of the main markets relevant to EIF (equity, guarantees, securitisation, microfinance)2. It is an update of the June 2018 ESBFO edition. We start by discussing the general market environment, then look at the main aspects of equity finance and guarantees/SME Securitisation (SMESec). Finally, before we conclude, we briefly highlight some important aspects of microfinance and Fintech in Europe.

The H1 2018 activity data report provides a semi-annual review of fundraising, investment and divestment trends for European private equity and venture capital activity. Please note that this data is preliminary and subject to change.

The findings of a survey of investors from the US, China, France, Germany and the UK. It outlines opinions on issues important to investors, such as capital markets strength, innovation and sustainability, and shows strong appetite for European investments.