The recently released performance report by Preqin analyses private equity partnerships as at 30 June 2009. As compared to the previous Preqin performance report ending March 2009, there is evidence of a slight improvement in the ‘All PE’ horizon IRRs for 1 and 5 years. Moreover, ‘All PE’ 1, 3, and 5 year horizon IRRs shows better performance relative to the S&P 500 and MSCI Europe Horizon IRRs.

This report by Preqin analyses the returns generated by over 4,800 private equity funds covering 65% of all capital ever raised. Over the last year, private equity strategies have produced negative one-year returns; however, they are still generating better returns relative to public markets.

The Pepperdine private cost of capital survey (PCOC) looks at the behaviour of senior lenders, asset-based lenders (ABLs), mezzanine funds, private equity groups, and venture capital firms in the US. It examines the benchmarks that must be met in order to qualify for capital, how much capital is typically accessible, what the required returns are for extending capital in today's economic environment, and outlooks on demand for various capital types, interest rates, and the economy in general.

Preqin surveys the opinions of public pension plans and other investors in the US to assess the potential impact to the private equity and alternatives industry of the introduction of SEC proposed rule release IA-2910, which includes potential effects for the use of placement agents.

Private equity fundraising has been significantly down in 2009 compared with recent years. Is this due to changing sentiment towards the asset class? When are investors going to return to the market? What are the key areas of interest? Are investors satisfied with their returns? Read Preqin's latest research report based on a survey of over 100 of the leading investors in private equity.

This report presents the main features of the private equity model and summarises the empirical evidence relating to the economic and social impact of private equity around the world.

This white paper explores the current state of US private equity firms' portfolio companies, examines some of the most prevalent practices for helping them in this difficult economy, and offers best-practices prescriptions for success.

Coller Capital's Global Private Equity Barometer provides a twice-yearly snapshot of worlwide trends in private equity. This 10th edition of the Barometer captures the views, plans and opinions of 120 LPs around the world.

Watson Wyatt's analysis of the top 100 global alternatives managers shows that there are 13 Australian asset managers in the Top 100 list.

Ross Barry, head of the portfolio construction group at Watson Wyatt in Australia, says, “It is not all doom and gloom in the alternatives world and long-term investors have been selectively investing in certain strategies, notably private equity, in the knowledge that in times of adversity good managers have made significant money for investors in the past and could well do so again."

Read Preqin's special research report on the global cleantech sector.

Since 2005, the number of funds that include cleantech investments as part or all of their industry scope has grown rapidly. Preqin estimates that the number of private equity funds that commenced making investments in 2008 and included cleantech in their investment mandates nearly quadrupled from the number in 2004, which was the first vintage year to see a significant number of funds begin to make cleantech investments, increasing from 30 in 2004 to 117 in 2008.