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Opinion pieces from leading private equity experts invited to address topical issues

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• Elizabeth Ward on the Brussels Taskforce's recent submission to the European Commission regarding European private equity regulation 05 Mar 2009. Source: AltAssets. At the end of February, the European private equity industry, via the Brussels Taskforce, proposed a unified set of professional standards for private equity to the European Commission. The Taskforce was established to address urgent and serious questions being asked of the industry by Europe's policymakers and acts on behalf of Europe's national private equity and venture capital associations, the EVCA and the private equity and venture capital industry. Elizabeth Ward is a counsel for Linklaters, an international law firm, and was heavily involved in the Brussels Taskforce Working Group which assisted with the proposal. She spoke with AltAssets about the Taskforce's submission.

• Investor Profile: Dr Helmut Vorndran, founding partner and CEO, Ventizz Capital Partners 17 Feb 2009. Source: AltAssets. Helmut Vorndran on the success of Ventizz's exit from ersol Solar Energy, on being reluctant to make investments in the current economic climate, on the current hardships facing the solar industry and on the attraction of making growth capital private equity investments in renewables.

• Karsten Langer of Riverside on the effects of the credit crunch 08 Dec 2008. Source: AltAssets. Karsten Langer, head of origination at Riverside Europe, has spoken with AltAssets about challenges and opportunities in the mid market. Riverside has managed to keep deal flow up, but the firm is taking a slightly different approach to deal-making now.

• Active CEE LPs regard region as increasingly attractive 29 Oct 2008. Source: AltAssets. CEE is becoming much more mainstream and limited partners who have been investing in the region for years regard it as more attractive now than ever.

• Institutional Investor Profile: Kine Burøy Ianssen, Partner, Cubera Private Equity 12 Sep 2008. Source: AltAssets. Kine Burøy Ianssen on the opportunities in the Nordic secondary market, the large number of Nordic funds terminating by 2010 and the challenges in the alignment of interests between LPs and GPs in Nordic private equity firms.

• Legal services: a new destination for private equity capital? 11 Jun 2008. Source: AltAssets. Cleantech, China, infrastructure, Russia – private equity investors always look for new areas in which they can apply their proven growth models to generate returns. The next hot area – at least for UK-focused private equity investors - could be legal services, as the Legal Services Act 2007 is gradually coming into force in the UK. By allowing for alternative business structures to be implemented, it is bound to fundamentally reform the way legal firms operate.

• LPs slightly more optimistic about European early stage investing 28 Nov 2007. Source: AltAssets. European limited partners are showing a bit more of an interest in the European venture capital market again, according to the EVCA study entitled The European Venture Capital Market: Scaling Beyond Current Boundaries, undertaken by the Private Equity Institute of London Business School and the Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS) of Technische Universität München.

• Larger, later deals drive European venture capital investment up 22 per cent to €1.18bn in 3rd quarter 21 Nov 2007. Source: AltAssets. European venture capital investment climbed to €1.18 bn in the third quarter of 2007, with half of this capital flowing exclusively to later-stage deals, according to the Quarterly European Venture Capital Report by Ernst & Young and Dow Jones VentureOne.

• The Beauty of Being Quoted 14 Nov 2007. Source: Asia Private Equity Review (APER). Private equity-backed companies race to become public on various listing platforms. There has been no respite in the number of private companies seeking to become publicly-quoted stocks. Between 5th October and 2nd November, there were 11 initial public offerings in which private equity investors have had an interest, and they have successfully raised US$6 billion from the public.

• Venture Capital Firms Set Their Sights on New Ideas - Not New Technologies 09 Aug 2007. Source: AltAssets. It has never been easier to start an Internet company. Create a web site, begin a "viral" marketing campaign to grow word-of-mouth and acquire an audience, garner some ad revenues, generate venture capital funding and sell out to a web giant such as Yahoo or Google. Startup costs can be minimized by using standard technology and by outsourcing corporate functions such as advertising sales. The business model, at least initially, is optional.

• Central and Eastern Europe - just a geographical expression? 18 Jul 2007. Source: Advent International. Joanna James. In this article, Joanna James, managing director, Central Europe, at Advent International, argues that 'being local' is key to making successful private equity investments in Central and Eastern Europe.

• Deal seekers down under 25 Apr 2007. Source: Asia Private Equity Review (APER). The winds of buy-outs in Australia are becoming increasingly unpredictable, says APER. The respective investors interested in Flight Centre and Veda Advantage appeared to be on shaky ground to clinch the deals at first, but their fortunes soon changed. Such developments underscore the resourcefulness of deal makers in Australia, one of the most competitive buy-out markets in Asia.

• The return of infrastructure funds 21 Feb 2007. Source: Asia Private Equity Review (APER). Infrastructure plays are in vogue after an absence of more than six years, says the APER. Since the beginning of the year, a number of infrastructure funds have been launched.

• Institutional Investor Profile: Jeremy Golding, Founder and Managing Director, Golding Capital Partners 24 Jan 2007. Source: AltAssets. Jeremy Golding on his firm's focus on providing innovative private equity investment solutions for German institutional investors, on the growing importance of the German private equity market, and on his team's differentiated approach.

• Private equity and hedge funds: a meeting of giants 06 Dec 2006. Source: Association for Corporate Growth (ACG); Grant Thornton. There's a blurring of the line between private equity and hedge funds, driven primarily by hedge funds seeking higher returns, says the ACG and Grant Thornton, as well as more capital to manage and diversification of risk.

• Institutional Investor Profile: Frank Brenninkmeyer, Principal, Performance Equity Management 30 Nov 2006. Source: AltAssets. Frank Brenninkmeyer on fund selection criteria, on the qualities his team seeks in a good GP, and on portfolio construction issues.

• Institutional Investor Profile: Lance Whitehead, Managing Director, Landmark Partners Europe 17 Nov 2006. Source: AltAssets. Lance Whitehead on secondaries transactions in Europe and the US, on analysing private equity portfolios and on his team's cautious investment approach.

• Land of buy-out promises 15 Nov 2006. Source: Asia Private Equity Review (APER). Australia has further consolidated its position as the land for mega buyouts When Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. announced that it has clinched the deal to acquire the waste management and industrial services businesses from Brambles Industries, it was another confirmation that Australia is fast becoming the land for mega buy-outs, says the APER.

• Institutional Investor Profile: Giorgio Buggio, Portfolio Manager, Compagnia di San Paolo 07 Nov 2006. Source: AltAssets. Giorgio Buggio on Compagnia di San Paolo's allocation to private equity, on what kind of funds his team seeks, and on the foundation's mission to support the Italian economy and society.

• Institutional Investor Profile: Roberto Pilotto, Funds Director, PPM Managers 18 Oct 2006. Source: AltAssets. Roberto Pilotto on investing in Asia, the CEE region and Europe, on why his team benefits from the firm's background in direct investments, and on the increasing challenges for country-specific funds in Europe.

• Institutional Investor Profile: SPF Beheer bv 11 Oct 2006. Source: AltAssets. SPF Beheer's private equity team talked to AltAssets about its investments in Europe and the US and about how the team's strategy has developed over the past five years.

• Institutional Investor Profile: Giuseppe Campanella, Chief Executive Officer, State Street Global Investments 04 Oct 2006. Source: AltAssets. Giuseppe Campanella on his team's focus on companies investing in and/or from Italy, on high management fees and the misalignment of LP/GP interests, and on why he is keen to invest in first-time funds.

• Institutional Investor Profile: Emmanuel Roth, Managing Director, Paris Orléans 27 Sep 2006. Source: AltAssets. Emmanuel Roth on Paris Orléans's fund and direct investments, on the firm's global investment strategy, and on being part of the Rothschild Group.