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Private equity returns have collapsed as the $3.2 trillion exit crisis deepens. Why David Lloyd's sale to itself reveals an industry model that's fundamentally broken.

Retail access to private markets has exploded in recent years. Yet new research shows these products aren’t the safe diversifiers they appear. Hidden behind the glossy brochures are smoothed returns, conditional liquidity, and fees of 4–5% a year. Worse still, the evidence suggests that wealthier investors are offered higher-quality funds, while mass-market buyers are left with weaker versions.

Private equity firms are dangling incentives that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Management fee cuts, rebates on deal...

The private equity industry promises profound pension improvements for retail investors, but Oxford professor Ludovic Phalippou's research reveals a different reality. Like Alice in Wonderland, investors risk falling down a rabbit hole where fund managers capture £1 trillion in fees while delivering returns barely better than simple index funds.

Private equity firms use IRR manipulation to claim impossible returns. KKR boasts 25.5% annually since 1976, Apollo claims 39%. But if KKR's first £31m fund truly compounded at 26%, it would be worth £2.6 trillion today. As Professor Phalippou explains, "IRR has become the theatre of private equity performance." With retail investors increasingly targeted, UK regulators must stop this deception.

Private equity has grown in popularity, especially among investors looking to diversify away from public stocks. NICOLAS RABENER explains...

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced initiatives to stimulate UK economic growth in the Spring Statement. Although the details have yet...

Private equity is no longer just the domain of institutions and ultra-wealthy investors. Increasingly, retail investors are being...