Part 5/17:
While some of the underperformance might be attributed to the rising valuation of companies over recent years, the industry's troubles run deeper. Private equity firms face a significant challenge in selling their previous investments at attractive prices, which hampers their ability to distribute profits or fund new deals. Without successful exits, they struggle to generate distributions, and consequently, can't raise new capital. Despite managing trillions of dollars, the traditional "buy, improve, sell" cycle is slowing.