Do private equity owned businesses perform better?

Too Faced Cosmetics in Irvine, CA was sold in November 2016 to Estee Lauder Companies for $1.45 billion, almost for $1 billion more than acquired one year earlier by the seller, General Atlantic. 

General Atlantic, a New York private equity firm, acquired the business in 2015 from another private equity firm, Weston Presidio. 

Too Faced was co-founded in 1998 by Southern California entrepreneurs Jarod Blandino and Jeremy Johnson.

The founders sold Too Faced to Weston Presidio in 2012, for only $71 million.

How did Too Faced Cosmetics' value go from $71 million to $1.45 billion during the 2012 to 2016 period? 

There may be several explanations, but the key answer is in the way how private equity owned businesses are owned, managed, perform, and grow in value. 

It is commonly known that businesses owned by private equity firms do better, at least for short- and intermediate-term, than their industry peers.

Private equity imposes certain disciplines and models to force companies to succeed or at least satisfy its highly driven and monetary-oriented ownership. Companies are forced to immediately improve financial efficiency, performance, and continuity. Well-placed partners of private equity firms serve as company ambassadors, acting as connectors to valuable contacts and strategic opportunities.

A study by A.T. Kearney (leading global consultancy) revealed the following:

1. Private equity owned companies generally outperform their industry peers, primarily in slow-growth industries, such as chemicals, large consumer goods and retail, manufacturing and business services.
2. Contrary to popular belief, PE firms that take on a supervisory role—giving the deal partner responsibility from acquisition through exit— deliver more value by balancing growth and profitability.
3. Success factors of PE firm models are transferable for those willing to learn.

Why private equity firms love cash?

PE players look at their balance sheet not as static indicators of performance, but a dynamic tools for growth. One critical component of this approach is to aggressively manage down working capital.

Lessons from private equity any company can learn
Bain & Company, a consulting giant which has succeeded as a private equity investor as well, offers a list of lessons any company can learns from private equity:

• Define the full potential. The target is to increase equity value - how to turn $1 of equity value today into $3, $4, or $5 tomorrow. 
• Develop the blueprint. The blueprint is the road map for reaching your full potential - the who, what, when, and how. 
• Accelerate performance. This involves molding the organization to the blueprint, matching talent to key initiatives, and getting people to own them. 
• Harness the talent. This requires creating the right incentives to recruit, retain, and motivate your best talent - and get them to think and act like owners. 
• Make equity sweat. This calls for managing working capital aggressively, disciplining capital expenditures, and working the balance sheet hard.
• Foster result-oriented mind-set. The goal is inculcate disciplines so that they become part of the company's culture and create a repeatable formula for achieving results.

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"We love to discover companies with hidden gems like owned real estate which we can later sell and lease back, extracting our equity and reducing our base investment costs. It happens often and sellers could easily take advantage of these if they only reviewed their assets before selling to us." -  Mid-size private equity executive.

In conclusion

Studies show that the PE business model drives value well beyond wealth creation for the owners. PE firms rejuvenate companies, create jobs, and open new markets that benefit customers, employees, suppliers and the communities in which they operate.

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Should private equity be part of an investment portfolio?

Lately the industry has been abuzz about the increased allocation to private equity by ultra-high net worth (UHNW) families. This is unsurprising, given that they have the ability to be patient investors. Additionally, domestic market equity returns continue to be uninspiring, while hedge funds suffer through a prolonged period of underperformance, versus low-cost ETFs and other alternatives. Given this context of low interest rates, fully valued equity markets and disappointing hedge fund returns, there is little wonder as to the increased appetite for private equity.

Historically, private equity has out-performed comparable public markets; Cambridge Associates’ pooled net IRR data (as of December 31, 2015) for the trailing one-, three-, five- and ten-year periods for U.S. large and mega-buyout funds showed returns of 10.5, 16.8, 15.1 and 11.4 percent, respectively. Large and mega buyout funds are those larger than $1 billion and $5 billion, respectively. By contrast, the S&P 500 (including dividend reinvestment) produced 1.4, 15.1, 12.5 and 7.3 percent annualized returns over the same time frame. Data intelligence firm Preqin also noted that private equity now manages $2.4 trillion in assets, with 689 funds closed in 2015, raising $288 billion.

Increasingly, UHNW families have been seeking direct investments in privately held companies. And while some have the operational history and in-house expertise to source direct private-equity investments, this is not the case for most multifamily offices (MFOs) and registered investment advisors (RIAs).

Building a full portfolio of direct investments, however, requires substantial due diligence and operational expertise, especially now. Pitchbook’s Q1 2016 U.S. Middle Market Report showed that in 2015 there were 2,023 private-equity middle-market deals, with an aggregate value of $374 billion. In a May 2016 BloombergGadfly column, “Private Equity is Seeing Diminishing Returns,” Nir Kaissar postulated that, given the increasing size of private equity, industry returns could be expected to decline. Data sources CohnReznick, Preqin and Pitchbook have all noted that deals have gotten more competitive and valuations have increased. The potential for high returns on capital brings more investors and dollars, which tends to compress returns. Despite this backdrop, the longer-term outlook for middle-market private equity seems positive.

Even if returns are subject to compression, U.S. middle-market buyout (inclusive of small-market buyout) returned 9.9, 14.0, 13.5 and 12.7 percent over the previously mentioned period, providing excess returns over public markets.

"Disciplined and patient investors may be rewarded over time by allocating to a diversified portfolio of private equity investments and funds."

Additionally, as reported in CohnReznick’s Momentum 2016 Middle Market Private Equity Outlook, “Far beyond financial engineering and balance sheet optimization, it is increasingly imperative for middle market PE firms to explore and implement digital strategies that can dramatically improve business.” 

Given the available alternatives, patient investors may be rewarded over time if they allocate to a diversified portfolio of private equity investments and funds.

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Clicking the Like button on various social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. does not constitute a testimonial for or endorsement of Redmount Capital Partners LLC or any Investment Advisor Representative. “Like” is not meant in the traditional sense. Posts must refrain from recommending investment advisory services or providing testimonials for our firm, since they are strictly prohibited. Please understand that we are required to delete such posts, since this is a regulatory requirement.

The State of Commercial Real Estate

The NCREIF ODCE Index NOI growth is currently at its lowest point in the past decade (as shown in the graph on the top-right). 

Also known as the NFI-ODCE, the index consists of 30 open-end commingled funds, pursuing a diversified core investment strategy and primarily investing in private equity real estate, with $173.1 billion of gross real estate assets and $133.3 billion of net real estate assets. 

An important criterion for a fund to be considered for the NFI-ODCE index is that at least 80% of market value of real estate net assets must be invested in office, industrial apartment and retail property types. The decrease in net operating income growth is important to note, given that U.S. commercial real estate prices have been rising steadily since 2009 and are only now beginning to plateau; decreasing in some sectors and locations. 

Though one cannot be sure whether this bull market is finally coming to an end, one must consider that it is a possibility. 

According to deal tracker Real Capital Analytics, Inc., $25.1 billion worth of commercial property was exchanged in February compared to $47.3 billion in February 2015; a decrease of approximately 88%.

Commercial real estate valuations have been on the rise since 2009, with retail and apartment properties above 2007 levels. Though not quite as high, industrial and office properties have also surpassed values reported in 2009. 

One of the reasons for the appreciation is the increase in demand for commercial real estate, resulting in some of the lowest vacancy rates in the last 25 years. The apartments sector has the highest vacancy rate, relative to vacancy rates in the respective time period, when compared to the office, retail and industrial real estate sectors. If this data concerns you, you are not alone. 

Last week, Kansas City Fed President Esther George expressed her concern for the commercial real estate market by saying it is a potential asset bubble that “bears watching”. George encouraged the U.S. central bank to stay on the course and gradually raise interest rates. This has been a growing concern for many, with the U.S. central bank acting increasingly dovish in recent times.

Something else to consider is the beginning of the end of SIFI designations. The SIFI designation for non-bank companies and a similar designation for eight of the big banks were established to create safeguards to prevent or minimize the effects of another financial crisis by requiring financial institutions recognized as being too big to fail maintain high levels of capital reserves and liquidity, and be subject to extensive government oversight. However, both MetLife and GE have recently filed to have the SIFI designation removed. If successful, this may mean an increase in capital available. Though the effects may not be immediate, commercial real estate lending might increase for those firms with exposure to the industry.  

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Clicking the Like button on various social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. does not constitute a testimonial for or endorsement of Redmount Capital Partners LLC or any Investment Advisor Representative. “Like” is not meant in the traditional sense. Posts must refrain from recommending investment advisory services or providing testimonials for our firm, since they are strictly prohibited. Please understand that we are required to delete such posts, since this is a regulatory requirement.

What Effects The Fed's Expected Interest Rate Increase May Have on Small-Business Lending

With the Federal Reserve set to raise interest rates for the first time in seven years, there’s been lots of talk about its impact on investors and home-buyers. But any increase will also affect entrepreneurs who are trying to finance operations or expand to new areas.

What will an increase in rates mean for business owners? 

The obvious answer is that interest rates on small-business loans should go up. But the Fed’s move to increase rates after keeping borrowing near zero since the financial crisis is expected to be slow and easy, perhaps just 25 basis points this week, meaning that any impact on business borrowing costs should be minimal at first. Then, too, banks – which pulled back from small business lending during the financial crisis – might increase their lending to small businesses if the economy improves. That would be especially welcome as bank loans are cheaper than most other sources of capital.

The Bigger Question.

The bigger question over time – and one that hasn’t been tested in previous market cycles – is what will happen to the marketplace lenders that rely on algorithms and higher rates to fill the gap left by banks for small-business loans. These marketplace lenders have relied on money from hedge funds and private-equity firms who have been searching for yield in a low interest-rate environment. Whether that liquidity remains or not as rates rise depends what happens to the spread between marketplace loans and corporate debt over time – and how much risk investors are willing to take in a credit environment that’s become increasingly concerned about risk.

Fed policy is only one factor in small-business loan rates, as anyone who’s tried to get financing the past few years and been offered a loan at 40% or higher despite historically low interest rates knows. Whether banks truly return to small-business lending, how lenders are able to use technology to improve their underwriting, and whether the economy is on better footing will all be factors going forward. In the meantime, if you’re looking to start a business or get financing now, there are other things to worry about than the Fed’s decision.

To prepare for the coming change please contact Redmount Capital Partners or learn more about our capabilities.

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Clicking the Like button on various social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. does not constitute a testimonial for or endorsement of Redmount Capital Partners LLC or any Investment Advisor Representative. “Like” is not meant in the traditional sense. Posts must refrain from recommending investment advisory services or providing testimonials for our firm, since they are strictly prohibited. Please understand that we are required to delete such posts, since this is a regulatory requirement.

3Q 2015 Private Equity Environment

Global equity markets fell sharply in the third quarter, driven by concerns over slowing global growth, particularly in China, and uncertainty over the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. The MSCI World Index declined by 8.3% in the third quarter, the index’s worst quarterly performance since the third quarter of 2011. Nearly every single-country equity index posted a loss, led by the Shanghai Composite, which declined by 27.9% during the quarter despite a raft of measures undertaken by the Chinese government to stem the sell-off. Other emerging markets and commodities also declined significantly, weighted down by fears of contagion and the knock-on effects of a slowdown in China. The S&P GSCI index, which measures a basket of 24 different commodities, declined by 19.3% in the third quarter, which brought the index to its lowest level since 1999.

Highlights

• Equity market volatility adversely impacted IPO issuance during the quarter. Global IPO issuance in 3Q15 totaled $13.6 billion, a 76.8% decline from 3Q14 and the lowest quarterly total since 1Q12. 
• Global buyout investment activity has increased only moderately over the past few years, and 2015 is on track to continue the trend. YTD 3Q15 buyout transaction activity totaled $289.8 billion, an increase of 2.7% over YTD 3Q14
• PE firms worldwide raised $58.1 billion in 3Q15, a 43% decrease from the prior quarter and a 31% decrease from 3Q14. The decrease was driven by buyout- and U.S.-focused fundraising activity

Private Equity Investment Activity
U.S. Buyout Investment Activity

U.S. buyout investment activity totaled $55.8 billion during the third quarter of 2015, down approximately 14% from both the prior quarter and the same period in 2014, according to data from

Thomson Reuters. This brought total U.S. buyout investment activity for the first three quarters
of the year to $190 billion, a decline of 5% from the same period in 2014. The year-over-year decline in investment activity is reflective of the increasing wariness of many general partners in the face of rising valuations in a competitive market environment. Many general partners are setting a high bar for new investments, which is restraining overall investment activity. The average purchase-price-to-EBITDA multiple (across all transaction sizes) for new buyout
investments was 10.3x for the first three quarters of 2015, up from 9.7x for all of 2014, according to S&P LCD. Although average purchase-price multiples are increasing, general partners continue to be disciplined and are structuring their transactions conservatively: the average equity contribution
rate for a buyout transaction completed so far this year is 40.8%, and the average debt-to-EBITDA multiple is 5.6x; the corresponding rate and multiple for all of 2014 are 37.0%
and 5.7x, respectively (see table 3).

Non-investment-grade debt markets were not immune to financial market volatility during the third quarter. The BofA Merrill Lynch High Yield Master II index generated a –4.9% return in the third

quarter, which drove an increase in its option-adjusted spread to 662 basis points over U.S. Treasuries—its highest level since June 2012. U.S. leveraged loan issuance totaled $115 billion in the third quarter, a decline of 14.8% from the year-ago period. Year-to-date 2015, U.S. leveraged loan issuance totaled $341 billion, a 24.3% decline from the same period in 2014. The decline in leveraged
loan issuance was due to a number of factors, including the slowdown in buyout investment activity in recent quarters, a shift toward more-conservative financing structures (which occurred as a result of the banking industry’s new leveraged lending guidelines), and the recent increase in credit spreads (which is tempering issuer appetites).

The largest announced U.S.-based buyout transaction during the quarter was the $12.6 billion acquisition of Oncor, a Texas-based electric transmission company, by a syndicate of investors including the Hunt Group, Avenue Capital, Centerbridge Capital, and GSO Partners. If completed, this would also be the largest buyout transaction of the year thus far. The investor group is acquiring Oncor from Energy Future Holdings, which is currently in bankruptcy court, eight years after its record-setting buyout led by KKR and TPG. Other notable buyout transactions announced during the
quarter include the $8.0 billion carve-out of Veritas from Symantec, led by Carlyle Group, and the $6.5 billion take-private of insurance software provider Solera, led by Vista Equity Partners.

Fundraising Market

Private equity firms worldwide raised $58.1 billion in the third quarter of 2015, a 43% decrease from the prior quarter and a 31% decrease from the $84.7 billion raised in the year-ago quarter, according to Thomson Reuters. The third quarter figure brought year-to-date worldwide private equity
fundraising to $246 billion, which is just slightly ahead of the $245 billion raised over the same period in 2014.

The quarter-over-quarter decrease in worldwide private equity fundraising was primarily driven by U.S.-focused funds, which raised $31.5 billion in the third quarter—a 58% decrease
from the prior quarter and a 44% decrease from the year-ago quarter. Significant decreases relative to the second quarter of 2015 occurred in each major strategy. After strong starts to the year for both U.S. buyout and venture capital fundraising, the strategies raised just $13.6 billion and $4.6
billion, respectively, which rank 33% and 24% below the average quarterly levels experienced for their strategies over the past five years. Notable U.S.-focused fund closings during the third quarter include American Industrial Partners VI, which raised $1.8 billion, and Insight Venture Partners IX, which held its final closing at $3.3 billion.

Europe-focused funds raised $19.9 billion during the third quarter, flat from the prior quarter but up 8% from the amount raised in the year-ago quarter. The primary driver of the region’s year-over-year increase was the growth in venture capital fundraising: the $3.0 billion raised during the third quarter was the highest quarterly total since the fourth quarter of 2008. Asia-Pacific-focused funds raised $5.9 billion during the quarter, an 83% increase from the measured second quarter; however, the year-to-date total of $14.7 billion raised in 2015 represents less than 50% of the corresponding 2014 total. The largest Asia-Pacific-focused fundraising round held during the third quarter was that of Chinese venture capital fund Shunwei China Internet Fund III, which closed on $1.0 billion. 

During the third quarter, buyout funds raised $30.3 billion, a 43% decrease from the prior quarter (or a decrease of 15% when excluding the $17.0 billion close of Blackstone Capital Partners VII in the second quarter). Fundraising within the segment was broad-based: nine buyout-focused partnerships raised $1.0 billion or greater, highlighted by EQT VII, which closed on $7.4 billion, the largest amount raised during the quarter. Fundraising for venture capital–focused funds remained relatively flat during the third quarter: the $9.9 billion raised worldwide represented a 5% decrease

from the prior quarter and a 5% increase from the year-ago quarter. The aforementioned decline in U.S. venture capital fundraising, combined with a greater than 70% increase in quarter-over-quarter fundraising in every other major global region, resulted in just 46% of the worldwide venture capital
fundraising total being raised in the United States—the lowest percentage raised by the region since the fourth quarter
of 2011.

Energy-focused fundraising experienced a significant slowdown during the third quarter, following three consecutive quarters of record-setting activity. Energy funds raised $5.5 billion, which represents a 27% decrease from the strategy’s 5-year quarterly average of $7.5 billion. Despite the decrease in overall volume, notable firms in the energy private equity space continued to accumulate significant amounts of capital following the downturn in oil and natural gas prices: Ridgewood Energy Oil & Gas III ($1.6 billion), Apollo Natural Resources Partners II ($1.3 billion), and ArcLight Energy Partners VI ($0.9 billion) accounted for 70% of the quarterly energy fundraising total. Fundraising for other private equity strategies (i.e., subordinated debt, infrastructure, and special
situations) represented 21% of the total amount raised during the third quarter.

Source: Pathway Capital, Bloomberg, S&P LCD. 

Note: Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but Redmount accepts no responsibility or liability (including for indirect, consequential or incidental damages) for any error, omission or inaccuracy of such information. The projections shown are provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice or providing any assurance or guarantee as to returns that may be realized in the future from your private equity commitments. Projections and expected returns are subject to high levels of uncertainty regarding future economic and market factors that may affect future performance.Accordingly, such projections/expectations should be viewed as only one possibility out of a broad range of possible outcomes.

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Clicking the Like button on various social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. does not constitute a testimonial for or endorsement of Redmount Capital Partners LLC or any Investment Advisor Representative. “Like” is not meant in the traditional sense. Posts must refrain from recommending investment advisory services or providing testimonials for our firm, since they are strictly prohibited. Please understand that we are required to delete such posts, since this is a regulatory requirement.

2Q 2015 Private Equity Environment

Market Overview
Global equity markets were rattled late in the second quarter with the prospect of a Greek debt default

and exit from Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). On the second-to-last trading day of the quarter, following Greece’s decision to hold a referendum on the terms of a new debt bailout deal, the MSCI Europe index declined by 2.7%—its largest daily decline since October 2014. In the United States, the S&P 500 declined by more than 2%, which erased the index’s gains for the year. Asian
equity markets also sold off on the news, although most of the region’s equity indices finished the quarter with gains. Fixed income markets performed poorly overall in the second quarter. In particular, despite the commencement of the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) quantitative easing program that drove much of the eurozone’s sovereign debt market into negative yield territory early in the quarter, euro-area government bonds experienced their largest-ever

quarterly loss, driven by concerns that yields had fallen too low in light of an improving economic outlook for the region.

Highlights

• M&A exit transaction value for PE-backed companies totaled $174 billion in 1H15—a decline of 34.8% from the record-setting 1H14 total but still one of the largest first-half totals ever recorded.
• High-yield default rates remain below historical averages in both the U.S. and Europe. However, sales of nonperforming loans reached a record high of €91 billion in 2014 and are expected to increase further in 2015.
  
• PE firms worldwide raised $92.1 billion in 2Q15, a 9% increase over the prior quarter and a 17% increase over the year-ago quarter. The increase was driven by buyout- and U.S.-focused fundraising activity.

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Clicking the Like button on various social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. does not constitute a testimonial for or endorsement of Redmount Capital Partners LLC or any Investment Advisor Representative. “Like” is not meant in the traditional sense. Posts must refrain from recommending investment advisory services or providing testimonials for our firm, since they are strictly prohibited. Please understand that we are required to delete such posts, since this is a regulatory requirement.

6 Lessons from private equity any company can learn (especially before selling)

Too Faced Cosmetics in Irvine, CA was sold in November 2016 to Estee Lauder Companies for $1.45 billion, almost for $1 billion more than acquired one year earlier by the seller, General Atlantic. 

General Atlantic, a New York private equity firm, acquired the business in 2015 from another private equity firm, Weston Presidio. 

Too Faced was co-founded in 1998 by Southern California entrepreneurs Jarod Blandino and Jeremy Johnson.

The founders sold Too Faced to Weston Presidio in 2012, for only $71 million.

How did Too Faced Cosmetics' value go from $71 million to $1.45 billion during the 2012 to 2016 period? 

There may be several explanations, but the key answer is in the way how private equity owned businesses are owned, managed, perform, and grow in value. 

Can we identify key factors why private equity owned businesses seemingly do better, at least for short- and intermediate-term, than their industry peers?

Consulting giants, led by Bain & Company, a successful private equity investor in its own right, offer a list of lessons any company can learn from private equity.

1. Define the full potential. The target is to increase equity value - how to turn $1 of equity value today into $3, $4, or $5 tomorrow.

2, Develop the blueprint. The blueprint is the road map for reaching your full potential - the who, what, when, and how.

3. Accelerate performance. This involves molding the organization to the blueprint, matching talent to key initiatives, and getting people to own them. 

4. Harness the talent. This requires creating the right incentives to recruit, retain, and motivate your best talent - and get them to think and act like owners. 

5. Make equity sweat. This calls for managing working capital aggressively, disciplining capital expenditures, and working the balance sheet hard.

6. Foster result-oriented mind-set. The goal is inculcate disciplines so that they become part of the company's culture and create a repeatable formula for achieving results.

Are the above 6 keys the reason why private equity owned businesses perform better than their peers over short and intermediate term intervals?

Private equity firms impose certain disciplines and models to force companies to succeed or at least satisfy their highly driven and monetary-oriented ownership. Companies are forced to immediately improve financial efficiency, performance, and continuity.

Well-placed partners of private equity firms serve as company ambassadors, acting as connectors to valuable contacts and strategic opportunities.

A study by A.T. Kearney (leading global consultancy) revealed the following:

1. Private equity owned companies generally outperform their industry peers, primarily in slow-growth industries, such as chemicals, large consumer goods and retail, manufacturing and business services.
2. Contrary to popular belief, PE firms that take on a supervisory role—giving the deal partner
   responsibility from acquisition through exit— deliver more value by balancing growth and profitability.
3. Success factors of PE firm models are transferable for those willing to learn.

Why private equity firms love cash?
PE players look at their balance sheet not as static indicators of performance, but as dynamic tools for growth. One critical component of this approach is to aggressively manage down working capital.

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"We love to discover companies with hidden gems like owned real estate which we can later sell and lease back, extracting our equity and reducing our base investment costs. It happens often and sellers could easily take advantage of these if they only reviewed their assets before selling to us." -  Mid-size private equity executive.

_____________________________________________

Clicking the Like button on various social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. does not constitute a testimonial for or endorsement of Redmount Capital Partners LLC or any Investment Advisor Representative. “Like” is not meant in the traditional sense. Posts must refrain from recommending investment advisory services or providing testimonials for our firm, since they are strictly prohibited. Please understand that we are required to delete such posts, since this is a regulatory requirement.

1Q15 Private Equity Environment Review

The first quarter of 2015 saw a separation in trends across industry metrics. Global fundraising, IPO issuance, and U.S. venture capital investment activity all fell from the prior quarter. In contrast, U.S. and European buyout investment activity increased from the fourth quarter of 2014. Looking forward, the decline in energy commodity prices will have an impact existing energy-related private equity portfolio companies, as well as possibly provide attractive opportunities for private equity firms to deploy capital in the sector.

Some additional notable observations from the report include the following:

• Average leverage multiples for U.S. buyout transactions declined from 5.7x to 5.4x in the first quarter of 2015 from the prior year’s average 
• 32 companies completed their IPOs on U.S. exchanges—a 50% decrease from both the prior quarter and the year-ago quarter. 
• The average equity contribution rate for a U.S. buyout transaction completed in 1Q15 was 39.4%, compared with 37.3% for all of 2014 
• Venture capital–focused funds experienced an upsurge in fundraising, raising $13.5 billion during the quarter
• PE firms raised $72.7 billion in 1Q2015, 19% decline from the prior quarter and 10% decline from the year ago quarter,

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Clicking the Like button on various social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. does not constitute a testimonial for or endorsement of Redmount Capital Partners LLC or any Investment Advisor Representative. “Like” is not meant in the traditional sense. Posts must refrain from recommending investment advisory services or providing testimonials for our firm, since they are strictly prohibited. Please understand that we are required to delete such posts, since this is a regulatory requirement.