Fund Fees and Expenses—A Tale of Four Surveys: Trends 2014–2018

Abstract

In 2018, 2016 and 2014, Private Funds Management (PFM) published surveys sponsored by Pepper Hamilton LLP, PEF Services, and WithumSmith + Brown in which fund managers shared how they deal with fees and expenses. In addition, in 2015, Pepper Hamilton and MergerMarket partnered up to take a close look at the co-investment environment. These surveys offer unique insight into the granular approach that CFOs and CCOs must take to ensure the ordinary and extraordinary fees and expenses that occur in the life of a private equity fund are appropriately allocated to investors, co-investors, and/or managers. In fund design, ongoing investor relations and regulatory review and enforcement, the fees and expenses borne by investment funds and co-investment vehicles are receiving more intense focus each year. The Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) has adopted a comprehensive reporting procedure for fees and expenses. Based on the PFM surveys and anecdotal information from audience polls at conferences, adoption of the ILPA form has been slow, but it is growing among middle market funds (sub-$1B) and has found a more favorable platform in larger funds.

TOPICS: Private equity, equity portfolio management, legal/regulatory/public policy, performance measurement