Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Blackrock Survey Says More PEU


Public pension funds, family offices and insurance companies plan to put a higher percentage of funds into private equity according to a BlackRock survey.  

...72% said they plan to increase allocations to private equity funds, while 52% aim to boost private-credit holdings. The survey ran from October 2022 through January 2023.

One has to wonder how institutional investors feel after the collapse of Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank given private equity holds assets yet to be valued at market levels.

BlackRock said those bank failures could give a boost to private credit as regional banks reduce lending.  That gives the greed and leverage boys the opportunity to lend money at 15% vs. the banks' roughly 5%.  

Private equity underwriters (PEU) purchased insurance lines over the last few years only to steer those investment reserves into their various fund offerings.  

Family offices include those established by infamous PEU founders.  The Carlyle Group must now steer around co-founder David Rubenstein's Declaration Partners.  

Mr. Rubenstein fills the airwaves and will soon interview fellow PEU Kim Kardashian.  I'm sure he can enlist Kim into his several decade long battle to save PEU preferred "carried interest" taxation.  Rubenstein can always use another influencer to remake private equity's unfair image.   

More PEU!  You'd think it was cowbell.  Nope, it's the supreme beats.

Update 4-22-23:  Fox Business News reported:

"These PE funds overpaid for stuff and now we’re saying ‘you’re not generating good returns, so go pound sand,’" said one official at a major public pension fund who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "They have taken their eyes off the collective ball and they’re now collectively panicking that they’re badly missing their numbers."

Now that's a horse of a different color.