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Do Private Equity Funds Manipulate Reported Returns?

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  • Gregory W. Brown
  • Oleg R. Gredil
  • Steven N. Kaplan

Abstract

Private equity funds hold assets that are hard to value. Managers may have an incentive to distort reported valuations if these are used by investors to decide on commitments to subsequent funds managed by the same firm. Using a large dataset of buyout and venture funds, we test for the presence of reported return manipulation. We find evidence that some under-performing managers boost reported returns during times when fundraising takes place. However, those managers are unlikely to raise a next fund, suggesting that investors see through much of the manipulation. In contrast, we find that top-performing funds likely understate their valuations.

Suggested Citation

  • Gregory W. Brown & Oleg R. Gredil & Steven N. Kaplan, 2016. "Do Private Equity Funds Manipulate Reported Returns?," NBER Working Papers 22493, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22493
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    Cited by:

    1. Barber, Brad M. & Yasuda, Ayako, 2017. "Interim fund performance and fundraising in private equity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 172-194.
    2. Robert S. Harris & Tim Jenkinson & Steven N. Kaplan & Ruediger Stucke, 2020. "Has Persistence Persisted in Private Equity? Evidence from Buyout and Venture Capital Funds," Working Papers 2020-167, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    3. Julian Kaboth & Arnd Lodowicks & Maximilian Schreiter & Bernhard Schwetzler, 2023. "Same same but different: how preferential claims trigger valuation discounts in equity tranches of VC-backed firms," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 877-914, April.
    4. Agarwal, Vikas & Barber, Brad M. & Cheng, Si & Hameed, Allaudeen & Shanker, Harshini & Yasuda, Ayako, 2023. "Do investors overvalue startups? Evidence from the junior stakes of mutual funds," CFR Working Papers 23-04, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    5. Vikas Agarwal & Brad Barber & Si Cheng & Allaudeen Hameed & Ayako Yasuda, 2023. "Private Company Valuations by Mutual Funds," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 27(2), pages 693-738.
    6. Nadauld, Taylor D. & Sensoy, Berk A. & Vorkink, Keith & Weisbach, Michael S., 2019. "The liquidity cost of private equity investments: Evidence from secondary market transactions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(3), pages 158-181.
    7. Brown, Gregory & Harris, Robert & Hu, Wendy & Jenkinson, Tim & Kaplan, Steven N. & Robinson, David T., 2021. "Can investors time their exposure to private equity?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(2), pages 561-577.
    8. Nicolas P. B. Bollen & Berk A. Sensoy, 2022. "How much for a haircut? Illiquidity, secondary markets, and the value of private equity," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 51(2), pages 501-538, June.
    9. Sharjil M. Haque & Anya V. Kleymenova, 2023. "Private Equity and Debt Contract Enforcement: Evidence from Covenant Violations," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-018, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    10. Cai, Yu & Wang, Qing, 2022. "Money funds manage returns," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    11. Spencer J. Couts, 2024. "How do Non-Core Allocations Affect the Risk and Returns of Private Real Estate Funds?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 68(4), pages 715-748, May.
    12. Koo, Minjae & Muslu, Volkan, 2023. "Fund Flows and Asset Valuations of Bond Mutual Funds: Effect of Side-by-Side Management," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    13. Aleksandar Andonov & Roman Kräussl & Joshua Rauh & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2021. "Institutional Investors and Infrastructure Investing [Pension fund asset allocation and liability discount rates]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(8), pages 3880-3934.
    14. Chinmoy Ghosh & Mingwei Liang & Milena T Petrova, 2020. "The Effect of Fair Value Method Adoption: Evidence from Real Estate Firms in the EU," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 205-237, February.
    15. Dyaran Bansraj & Han Smit & Vadym Volosovych, 2020. "Can Private Equity Funds Act as Strategic Buyers? Evidence from Buy-and-Build Strategies," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-041/IV, Tinbergen Institute.
    16. Sharjil M. Haque, 2023. "Does Private Equity Over-Lever Portfolio Companies?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-009, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    17. Gornall, Will & Strebulaev, Ilya A., 2020. "Squaring venture capital valuations with reality," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 120-143.
    18. Dahya, Jay & Wu, Betty (H.T.), 2024. "Social capital, syndication, and investment performance: Evidence from PE investing in LBOs," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    19. Kallenos, Theodosis L. & Nishiotis, George P., 2023. "Market-based private equity returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    20. Douglas Cumming & Satish Kumar & Weng Marc Lim & Nitesh Pandey, 2023. "Mapping the venture capital and private equity research: a bibliometric review and future research agenda," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 173-221, June.
    21. Michael D. Stuart & Richard H. Willis, 2020. "Use of independent valuation specialists in valuing employee stock options: evidence from IPOs," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 438-473, June.
    22. Niklas Hüther & David T. Robinson & Sönke Sievers & Thomas Hartmann-Wendels, 2020. "Paying for Performance in Private Equity: Evidence from Venture Capital Partnerships," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(4), pages 1756-1782, April.
    23. Sofia Johan & Minjie Zhang, 2021. "Information Asymmetries in Private Equity: Reporting Frequency, Endowments, and Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 199-220, November.
    24. Indraneel Chakraborty & Michael Ewens, 2018. "Managing Performance Signals Through Delay: Evidence from Venture Capital," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(6), pages 2875-2900, June.

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    JEL classification:

    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General

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