Supply of funds overwhelmed demand in 2011

Buyout executives and placement agents didn’t have many kind things to say about 2011, and they aren’t too excited about what 2012 has to offer.
“The general fundraising environment is warming, but it’s not hot. 2012 will be mildly better than 2011, but there are a lot of new funds out there,” Bill Barnum, a partner at Los Angeles-based Brentwood Associates, tells Buyouts Magazine in their first issue of the New Year.
Senior editor Greg Roth notes in the article that a supply of funds is overwhelming demand, and that increasing competition is a recurring worry for many private equity firms. Regardless of the increased competition, however, firms raised 31 percent more in 2011 than they did in 2010, raising $90.5 billion.