Actuaries raise concerns about private equity

There's a bit in today's Telegraph about Watson Wyatt's views on private equity as an asset class for pension funds to invest in. It's worth a read, although it does seem to repeat some fairly well-known points such as the need to identify the best funds, questionable outperformance compared to the public markets etc.

Perhaps more interesting is the question of the sustainability of the current binge:

Watson Wyatt said there was a danger that private equity could become a victim of its own success. More than $300bn (£151bn) of new money was raised by private equity funds last year. Finding a home for that money has forced private equity investors to test the market's limits, paying higher multiples of earnings for target companies and funding deals with ever greater debt.