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Private equity performance continued downward trend in Q3

Private equity investment returns have continued a downward trend in the third quarter, battered by ongoing volatility in public markets and falling valuations for technology companies, according to these figures from the National Venture Capital Association and Venture Economics.

One-year returns on venture investments dropped to 32.4 per cent at the end of the third quarter from 18.2 per cent at the end of the second quarter. The same figure for all private equity was a fall of 21.4 per cent and for buy-outs a fall of 16.1 per cent. The figures contain little to surprise. Investors have long been braced for a prolonged period of disappointing results after the excesses of the late 1990s. Public markets remain unsettled and merger and acquisition activity has been pretty leaden, meaning short-term exit opportunities are limited and an imminent turnaround in fortunes unlikely.

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Venture Economics. For over 40 years, Venture Economics has been tracking the venture capital and buyouts industry. Since 1961, it has been a recognized source for comprehensive analysis of investment activity and performance of the private equity industry. Venture Economics maintains long-standing relationships within the private equity investment community, in-depth industry knowledge, and proprietary research techniques. Private equity managers and institutional investors alike consider Venture Economics information to be the industry standard. For more information about Venture Economics, please visit http://www.ventureeconomics.com.

The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) represents over 45 venture capital and private equity organisations. NVCA 's mission is to foster the understanding of the importance of venture capital to the vitality of the US and global economies, to stimulate the flow of equity capital to emerging growth companies by representing the public policy interests of the venture capital and private equity communities at all levels of government, to maintain high professional standards, facilitate networking opportunities and to provide research data and professional development for its members. For more information about NVCA , visit www. nvca .org.