Interview with Professor Oliver Gottschalg: Private equity performance – Can you separate fact from fiction?

We interviewed Oliver Gottschalg, founder of MJ Hudson Fund Performance Analytics (formerly PERACS GmbH), a leading provider of quantitative analytics for the private equity industry. We discuss:

• Why is performance so hard to get right?

• LP looks at portfolios / adjustments.

• Issues with IRR.

• Credit lines - impact on performance.

• Fund performance analytics solutions.

Oliver Gottschalg holds a Wirtschaftsingenieur Diploma from the University of Karlsruhe, an MBA from Georgia State University and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree from INSEAD. holds a Wirtschaftsingenieur Diploma from the University of Karlsruhe, an MBA from Georgia State University and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree from INSEAD.

His current research focuses on the strategic logic and the performance determinants of private equity investments. A second stream of work looks at the implications of employee motivation for firm performance in different settings. In parallel to his faculty position at HEC, he is affiliated with INSEAD as a visiting researcher and the coordinator of the HEC Buyout Research program.

His work has been published in leading academic journals and in various publications for practitioners. He regularly presents his research at academic conferences and private equity symposia and serves as an advisor to leading investors in the private equity industry. At HEC, he teaches a core course on business strategy and offers an elective on Management Buyouts.