Private Equity Flooded with Money

I got a phone call from a fund manager today. I was a bit surprised to get his attention as he normally only deals in public market companies but he tells me he has a new private equity fund and he needs to invest. This is good news for those family owned businesses or owner managed companies because it means they are more and more attactive to this unique type of capital. I wrote about private equity in my new book, Money Magnet which will help owners understand how to attrat and work with private equity.
With the big companies taking a hammering on the stock market, there is a diversion of money happening. The new direction seems to be private equity. I've had phone calls from companies setting up private equity funds as they have heard this is where the high returns lie.
In the USA, Private equity funds closed on a whopping $44.3 billion across 68 funds. While not nearly as huge, the venture capital markets also brought in new money beyond 2007’s totals by $1 billion to $4.9 billion. The data is based on information compiled by Private Equity Analyst, which is part of Dow Jones.
What's going on?
"The thinking in the USA is that if you are in private equity or venture capital, you are not tied up in the credit crunch," says John Loewen, Loewen & Partners, Toronto.