3Q 2017

July 21, 2017

In the latest fintech research note from PitchBook, the ICO phenomenon is analyzed in depth, with its history, the mechanics of offerings and long-term viability addressed in turn.

2Q 2017

July 20, 2017

In many ways, European PE activity mirrors the PE landscape in the United States. Deal and exit volumes are on a downward trend and looking at 20% or greater year-over-year decreases if the current pace continues. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the year plays out now that the significant political uncertainty appears to be in the rear-view mirror for the time being.

2Q 2017

July 19, 2017

After a period of turbulence stemming from political uncertainties, Europe is looking to get its venture capital industry back on track.

2017

July 14, 2017

In the latest research note from the PitchBook Private Equity Analysis team, how PE returns at the firm level stack up against public market equivalents (PME) is explored in-depth. Breaking out managers into quartiles based on fund performance, our analysts then examine how the different populations of fund managers perform across all relevant funds in order to assess the consistency of performance.

2Q 2017

July 11, 2017

The 2Q 2017 US Private Equity Breakdown, sponsored by Merrill Corporation and co-sponsored by Murray Devine, analyzes how US PE firms have stayed unfazed amid sky-high public equities and an uncertain economic landscape, as well as those that have carried over from 2016, diving into datasets covering deals by sector, size and type. In addition, the report covers PE-backed exit activity and fundraising, sourcing exits by type and fundraising metrics such as median fund sizes and times to close from the PitchBook Platform.

2Q 2017

July 10, 2017

For about two years now, the VC industry has been in a pattern of decline as the hyper activity of 2014 and 2015 gradually deflated back to normal. Now for two quarters in a row, overall VC activity within the US has been on the upswing. Deal count at both the early and late stage has seen increases, undoubtedly helped out by the robust fundraising that has taken place in recent years. Companies are still finding it difficult to find an exit route, however, and the investment-to-exit ratio has pushed to the highest spread in the past decade. While we don't expect this generate negative consequences, it will be interesting to see if the average time to exit continues to lengthen, which could eventually have consequences for LPs.

2017

June 27, 2017

PitchBook's 2017 Venture Ecosystem FactBook: Seattle utilizes the PitchBook Platform to delve deeply into venture activity, exits and fundraising within the Seattle MSA, contextualizing VC trends within a snapshot of the current economic scene. Analyzing local trends in VC investment by tapping an ecosystem-centric framework, the publication draws from local perspectives and extant PitchBook research to present a snapshot of the health of the current Seattle venture ecosystem.

2017

June 26, 2017

"Buy low, sell high." It's one of the oldest platitudes in finance, but one that is especially relevant in today's PE landscape. Multiple expansion between entry and exit prices has long been known to be one of the main drivers of PE returns, particularly during times of economic expansion or growth. Indeed, median buyout multiples have hit 10.0x in 2017, more than four turns higher than the 5.6x recorded in 2009. To achieve multiple expansion, PE firms must begin with the first half of the adage: buy low. But where are lower multiples and consequently higher returns to be found? We examine three sources: smaller enterprise value, early-cycle investing and emerging markets.

2Q 2017

June 21, 2017

In spite of premiums accounting for 7% of US GDP, the operational expertise required to launch a platform in the insurance space remains far higher than that required for other applied technology in other industries. The insurance industry in general has bought itself time with huge economies of scale and massive balance sheets due to the favorable quirks of their accounting treatment and business models. Lately, insurers have begun to use their balance sheets to fund corporate venture arms to lead the charge on funding potential disrupters.

2017

June 14, 2017

In PitchBook's 2017 PE & VC Exits, our analysts take the opportunity to dive into granular exit datasets ranging from secondary buyout multiples to sales by sector and size in order to assess whether the steady decline in exit volume is problematic or not.