RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 What Drives PE? Analyses of Success Factors for Private Equity Funds JF The Journal of Private Equity FD Institutional Investor Journals SP 63 OP 85 DO 10.3905/jpe.2008.710907 VO 11 IS 4 A1 Philipp Aigner A1 Stefan Albrecht A1 Georg Beyschlag A1 Tim Friederich A1 Markus Kalepky A1 Rudi Zagst YR 2008 UL https://pm-research.com/content/11/4/63.abstract AB This article identifies key performance indicators for private equity funds by scrutinizing a dataset of 358 funds holding an aggregate number of 7,511 portfolio companies. First, we show a high persistence of the top-performing private equity fund managers. Then, we explore the influence on fund performance, measured by the internal rate of return and the public market equivalent of the following variables: the stock market return, the GDP growth, and the average interest rate all during a fund's lifetime and in its vintage year, the experience of the fund manager, the percentage of buyout deals, and the diversification across portfolio companies, industry sectors, regions, and financing stages. Furthermore, we demonstrate that successful general partners venture riskier investments than their less fortunate colleagues.TOPICS: Private equity, manager selection, statistical methods, performance measurement