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Journal of Finance Vol. 76 No. 6 2021

Valuing Private Equity Investments Strip by Strip

Arpit Gupta1; Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh

1 New York University

Abstract

We propose a new valuation method for private equity (PE) investments. It constructs a replicating portfolio using cash flows on listed equity and fixed‐income instruments (strips). It then values the strips using an asset pricing model that captures the risk in the cross‐section of bonds and equity factors. The method delivers a risk‐adjusted profit on each PE investment and a time series for the expected return on each fund category. We find negative risk‐adjusted profits for the average PE fund, with substantial heterogeneity and some persistence in the performance. Expected returns and risk‐adjusted profit decline in the later part of the sample.

DOI
10.1111/jofi.13073
Volume
76
Issue
6
Pages
3255-3307
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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