It's your turn

Which firms and deals are going to top our annual reader poll for 2009? You tell us.

The past 12 months for the private equity industry have not exactly been business as usual.

“Weird,” was the word used to describe them recently by one global secondaries player. Challenging, interesting, humbling, Darwinian, revolutionary, chastening and thrilling – yes, thrilling – are other adjectives that have been used by practitioners as they talked to PEO about how they regard 2009.

Naturally, much discussion has also revolved around the rising and falling stars within the asset class. Which firms have excelled and which have fallen behind in these strange days? You are sure to have a view – and we have just opened our annual reader poll to let you tell us.

Voting has begun for The Private Equity International Awards 2009, marking the ninth year that PrivateEquityOnline and sister publication Private Equity International have brought you their highly regarded global readers' poll. 
 

To help speed the voting process, this year our global editorial team has provided four suggestions in each voting category. These are just suggestions – or if you rather, reminders – as, crucially, there is also a fifth choice in each category, where you can nominate whomever you'd like.
 
So if in your view none of the suggestions are right, then simply type in the name of the firm or transaction you believe should win in that fifth box. As ever, these are the only awards voted by the industry for the industry, so do take 10 minutes to share your views.
 
The rules are simple: you may only vote once and you may not vote for yourself or your own firm. You are not required to vote in all categories – only vote in those that are of interest to you. And – of course – all votes are confidential. 
 
Click here to vote in the North American poll. 
Click here to vote in the European poll.
And click here to vote in the Asian, African, Middle Eastern and Latin American polls.
 
Note that all the polls close on Monday, 18 January 2010 at 3pm GMT.

The results will be published simultaneously on our website and in the Annual Review, our in-depth look at the prior year, which is released with the March 2010 issue of sister magazine Private Equity International.

This annual poll attracts many thousands of votes from all over the world – so do make sure you're part of them. The results provide vital evidence of the still dynamic and diverse nature of private equity – and it's not as if 2009 doesn't, finally, need some winners.