How do you tell whether a private equity investor is “absolutely credible”? Realised investments, success stories, lists of co-investors, testimonials, references etc. are all valuable but can I actually see their intellectual property? I am referring to the availability of tangible communications (articles, presentations, models, audio, video etc.) encapsulating the investor’s best ideas, experiences, education, managing cultural change etc. – their intellectual capital – synthesised or recombined into value for the would-be seller or top management. In almost all cases, the answer is a resounding “no”. You are asked to take it on trust.
I asked a serial CEO, and now Board Chair and Senior Adviser to many of the world’s largest private equity firms, how the secrecy helps the private equity investor? He was largely at a loss to explain it apart from avoidance of past PR bloody noses.
Would you allow a surgeon to operate on your heart or the school to teach your child without a pretty clear understanding of how they think and operate, beyond the odd PowerPoint presentation or a few lunches? The time has come for more humility from private equity investors of all shades. That doesn’t require them to diminish their own worth rather to accept that greater transparency upfront is an accelerant to higher levels of trust with their key constituents and superior short and long-term performance.
© James Berkeley 2017.
