LP Insight
August 19, 2021
Market Trends: A Surge in Distribution Activity
Data-driven insights1 from Bryan Jenkins, Hamilton Lane’s Head of Private Market Analytics Consider where the private markets were one year ago in August 2020. Q1 2020 valuations had just been published, indicating private equity funds2 had declined 8% in a single quarter. Investment activity and, more importantly, exit activity had[...]
June 2, 2020
Diligence in a Digital World
In the current economic environment, filled with uncertainty stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak, LPs are even more focused on thoroughly diligencing new investments to make the most informed decision. Historically, a traditional diligence process relied on in-person meetings to get a better understanding of the company, financial portfolio and track[...]
April 24, 2020
Chart of the Month: Historic Recessions in the Private Markets
When we think about the potential impact of a recession on the private markets, we thought it best to look at cash flow behavior during historic recessions. Continue reading to understand the net cash flows, contribution rates and distribution rates during prior recessionary periods. Net cash flows are generally negative[...]
April 14, 2020
Downside Protection in the Private Markets
As investors, we’re presented with lots of compelling reasons to commit to a fund. One line LPs consistently hear is that they should invest with a particular general partner because it protects the downside better than anyone else does. But, something we’ve been pondering, does this downside protection matter? Do[...]
April 2, 2020
GP to GP Deals in the Private Markets
Historically, GPs would exit a deal through an IPO. However, in today’s environment, most deals are too small for IPO. Therefore, GPs are exiting a deal by selling to another GP – also called a GP to GP deal. The number of these deals has risen substantially since 2010. Furthermore,[...]
March 16, 2020
Private Markets Performance
Investors in the private markets are typically focused on private markets performance in two ways: How have the private markets performed? How does that performance compare to the public markets? Using Cobalt LP’s benchmark and industry-level data, we’re able to take a look at both of these areas. Private Markets[...]
February 25, 2020
Measuring Risk in Private Equity
We have all heard the comment that your private equity portfolio is riskier than your public equity portfolio. But, is this true? How do you even measure risk in private equity? Glad you asked. We, at Cobalt, think of measuring risk in private equity in two ways: versus short-term Treasuries[...]
December 18, 2019
Trends to Watch in 2020: A Webinar Recap
Last week, our friends at DealCloud hosted a webinar about trends to watch in 2020. This webinar, featuring perspectives from the deal maker, fund manager and technology angle, discussed the factors that will impact the market most heavily. Read on to learn more about our key takeaways from the webinar.[...]
October 25, 2019
Chart of the Month: Private Equity IRR by Vintage Year
Private markets often use IRR as a performance metric to measure returns over a fund's life Quartiles break down the IRRs, ranked least to greatest, for each vintage year by 25% increments of each grouping Historically top quartile funds generate significantly higher returns than bottom quartile funds Returns during the[...]
August 7, 2019
Cobalt: A Powerful Tool for Limited Partners
Learn more about Cobalt: A powerful tool for limited partners to leverage for analytics, market data and diligence.
