We improve public understanding of the role of private capital in the global economy. Academic and industry experts work together to generate new knowledge about private capital markets based on objective academic research.

Should defined contribution plans include private equity investments?

Investors want access to the best performing assets for their portfolios. Driven by the strong performance of private investment funds in recent decades, many providers of defined-contribution (DC) investment services have advocated for broader access to private investments in these plans, such as 401(k)s.

Debt and Leverage in Private Equity: A Survey of Existing Results and New Findings

This paper examines leverage and debt financing in the private equity buyout market. We provide an overview of how debt is utilized in buyout investment structures and a review of existing theoretical and empirical academic literature.

2021 Real Estate Research Symposium September 30

The symposium will bring together practitioners and academics to share new and compelling work in real estate and allow for discussion and collaboration to help find, gain and organize data in commercial real estate.

13th Annual Private Equity Research Symposium November 12

The 13th Annual Private Equity Research Symposium will highlight recent research on buyouts, private credit, and venture capital, among other topics.

Latest Research

Investment with Social Impact: Evidence from Commercial Real Estate Investment by Public Pension Funds

May 03, 2021

This paper studies whether and how investments by public pension funds result in a different social impact, measured by employment growth, relative to investments by other large investors. Using commercial real estate (CRE) investments as a laboratory, I compare direct pension fund CRE investments to a counterfactual of real estate private equity (REPE) CRE investments. More

How Do Financial Expertise and Networks Affect Investing? Evidence from University Endowments

April 25, 2021

We examine the links between human capital and endowment investing. Harnessing detailed information on university endowments, we find that higher asset allocations to alternative assets accompany higher levels of human capital in the endowment’s investment process. Moreover, high levels of human capital are linked to larger returns, even on a risk-adjusted basis. More

Hedge Funds and the Treasury Cash-Futures Disconnect

April 01, 2021

We document the rise and fall of an arbitrage trade among hedge funds known as the Treasury cash-futures basis trade. This trade exploited a fundamental disconnect between cash and futures prices of Treasuries. We show that in recent years a replicating portfolio of Treasury bills and futures has been overvalued relative to Treasury notes and bonds, creating an opportunity for arbitrageurs. More

John L. Bowman, Senior Managing Director for the CAIA Association, and Greg Brown, Research Director at the Institute for Private Capital, discuss Brown’s article “The Evolution of Private Equity Fund Value” as it appeared in the spring edition of CAIA’s official Member publication The Journal of Alternative Investments.

May 27, 2021