Scholars from a number of universities have created a new consortium for research on private equity. The Private Equity Research Consortium will conduct and promote research on how these private capital investments affect both financial results and broader economic issues.
The Private Equity Research Consortium (PERC) will be housed at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School. The formation of PERC was made possible by a grant from the UAI Foundation, a non-profit foundation devoted to supporting research in finance.
Members of PERC’s founding advisory board are Professor Gregory Brown, University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School; Professor Robert Harris, University of Virginia, Darden School of Business; Professor Tim Jenkinson, Oxford University, Said Business School; Professor Steven Kaplan, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business; and James Bachman, Director of Research, Burgiss Group.
“Over the last two decades, private equity has grown to become an important part of the investment landscape, yet little is known about the industry. Historically, researchers who want to study private equity confront a major barrier: high-quality data,” said Professor Brown. “Our goal is to help remove that barrier.”
The advisory board charts the consortium’s research agenda and will review applications from academic researchers for access to data available through the consortium in collaboration with Burgiss Group, a provider of portfolio management software, data and analytics to asset owners investing in private capital. The Burgiss Group is based in Hoboken, NJ (www.burgiss.com).
“PERC provides a powerful opportunity to bring together scholars and industry professionals with a common goal: a better understanding of private equity’s effects on both financial results and broader economic outcomes,” said Professor Harris.
PERC’s activities include creating research for publication in academic and practitioner journals, developing and testing data, providing access to data for academic researchers, hosting an annual conference of academics and industry professionals, and producing short reports on topics of current interest in private equity. This year’s conference will be held in November at UNC-Chapel Hill.
For more information about the Private Equity Research Consortium, access to complete and ongoing research projects, and how to apply for access to data available through the consortium, click HERE.
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-23-13
