Why Private Equity’s Playbook is Losing to Public Markets

Private equity has long promised investors better returns than public markets, while offering entrepreneurs like Dan Namerow life-changing exits. But the market that made those deals work has changed. Higher interest rates have made debt-financed buyouts harder to justify, while deals struck at peak valuations in 2020 and 2021 have become more difficult to exit. University of Chicago Booth professor Steven Kaplan says US buyout funds largely beat public markets for decades, but that pattern has reversed since 2019, while PitchBook reports that the backlog of companies held by private equity firms has risen to more than 33,000. The result is a tougher environment where firms are being judged less on leverage and multiple expansion, and more on whether they can actually improve the businesses they buy. -------- More on Bloomberg Television and Markets Like this video? Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss any videos from Bloomberg Markets & Finance: https://tinyurl.com/ysu5b8a9 Visit http://www.bloomberg.com for business news & analysis, up-to-the-minute market data, features, profiles and more. Connect with Bloomberg Television on: X: https://twitter.com/BloombergTV Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BloombergTelevision Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bloombergtv/ Connect with Bloomberg Business on: X: https://twitter.com/business Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bloombergbusiness Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bloombergbusiness/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bloombergbusiness?lang=en Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/bloomberg/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bloomberg-news/ More from Bloomberg: Bloomberg Radio: https://twitter.com/BloombergRadio Bloomberg Surveillance: https://twitter.com/bsurveillance Bloomberg Politics: https://twitter.com/bpolitics Bloomberg Originals: https://twitter.com/bbgoriginals Watch more on YouTube: Bloomberg Technology: https://www.youtube.com/@BloombergTechnology Bloomberg Originals: https://www.youtube.com/@business Bloomberg Quicktake: https://www.youtube.com/@BloombergQuicktake Bloomberg Espanol: https://www.youtube.com/@bloomberg_espanol Bloomberg Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/@BloombergPodcasts