Providing comprehensive data and research to support our public affairs and communications efforts – while equipping our members with essential industry insights – is central to the research team’s mission. Throughout 2024, we worked tirelessly to expand our range of publications and research collaborations, deepening understanding of the benefits that private equity and venture capital bring to Europe.
A major achievement was the publication of our first report in collaboration with EUIPO, the European Union Intellectual Property Office, entitled Protecting European innovation: Private equity’s role in European Intellectual Property Rights. This report highlighted the positive relationship between private equity investments and intellectual property rights in the portfolio companies.
For the first time in 2024, our new edition of the Performance of European Private Equity Benchmark Report, published in partnership with Cambridge Associates, included a section of European infrastructure funds. Using mPME methodology, the report demonstrated how European private equity and venture capital consistently outperform public market benchmarks, providing valuable insight for long-term investors navigating an uncertain market.
Beyond launching new reports, we updated and, where possible, expanded all our annual publications. We published our second edition of Invest Europe’s ESG Key Performance Indicators (KPI) report, focusing on ten carefully selected ESG metrics, transparently showcasing the industry’s efforts in areas such as carbon emissions, female participation, and anti-bribery and corruption policies within portfolio companies. Conducted via the European Data Cooperative (EDC), this effort aims to make ESG data reporting as widespread and routine as tracking activity statistics.
We also published new editions of our Venture Capital: Fuelling European Innovation, and our Mid-Market Private Equity: Europe’s Engine for Growth. Both explored key aspects of specific strategies, including fundraising, performance metrics, investment trends, and employment impact, while highlighting the segment’s critical role in fostering innovation and supporting Europe’s economy. The latest Private Equity at Work report reaffirmed the industry’s significant contribution to employment and job creation, drawing on years of data to illustrate its impact on companies, individuals, and society more broadly. The latest edition contained a new section with a holding period analysis highlighting the dynamic relationship between the duration of the investment and the expansion of employment.
