Private equity is putting on a brave face, but its players are feeling the pain

Hanging out with the private-equity crowd at the SuperReturns conference is a surreal experience: everyone accepts that this year will be a stinker, but no-one can quite believe that the good times are over.

I've spent a couple of days this week in Munich, hanging out with the private-equity crowd at their annual SuperReturns conference. It's been a slightly unreal experience, which has brought back memories of going to a First Tuesday dotcom networking party in the summer of 2000, some months after the tech bubble had burst.

The conference was full of people discussing deals that will never get done, investments that will never be made and funds that will never be raised. Everyone accepts this year will be a stinker for private equity, but no one can quite believe the good times are gone for ever.

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Simon Nixon

Simon is the chief leader writer and columnist at The Times and previous to that, he was at The Wall Street Journal for 9 years as the chief European commentator. Simon also wrote for Reuters Breakingviews as the Executive Editor earlier in his career. Simon covers personal finance topics such as property, the economy and other areas for example stockmarkets and funds.