Illustration: Glenn Harvey
The Big Take
Some PE Firms Doomed to Fail as High-Flying Industry Loses Its Way
Private equity’s reckoning has frustrated investors waiting longer for payouts, forcing firms to scale back fundraisings, offer secondary exits and diversify
When Insight Partners tried to raise another $20 billion flagship fund, it found itself offering mea culpas.
Months into the campaign, the software-focused private equity firm conceded it had invested too quickly before interest rates rose, buying assets near a market peak. Executives vowed to focus on returning capital. But contrition wasn’t enough for some clients. Even after trimming ambitions to $12.5 billion to $15 billion for an era of fewer deals, the firm’s 13th fund closed in January with about $11.5 billion.