The chief executive of $1.3tn asset manager PGIM said he was concerned about the “layered leverage” that private equity firms are using to return cash to investors and urged regulators to insist on more transparency about complex forms of debt.
David Hunt said that as private equity groups struggle to exit investments, they have been using more complex and opaque forms of borrowing, such as leveraging up funds that own several already-indebted companies to finance payouts for their investors.
“Recently as exits have been difficult, I think they [buyout groups] needed to go back to financial leverage” to make money, Hunt told the Financial Times. “That can help you on the upside” but it could “really accelerate things on the downside”, he said.