Featured Partner: Bill Barnum
Buyout executives and placement agents had a generally negative sentiment about the 2011 market, and their perspective on what 2012 has to offer isn’t positive, either. In a recent Buyouts article, senior editor Greg Roth notes that the supply of funds is overwhelming demand, and increasing competition is a recurring worry for many private equity firms.Bill Barnum, partner at Brentwood Associates, was interviewed for the article. “The general fundraising environment is warming, but it’s not hot. 2012 will be mildly better than 2011, but there are a lot of new funds out there,” said Barnum. Regardless of the increased competition, however, firms raised 31 percent more in 2011 than they did in 2010.