Vote now for the private equity stars of 2015

As 2015 prepares to take its last breaths, it’s now time – between the client lunches, holiday parties and last-minute online shopping – to take stock of the trials and triumphs of the last 12 months and ruminate on what 2016 may have in store for the private equity industry.

We’ve offered some food for thought in the form of the fourth edition of Perspectives, our annual overview of industry topics investors consider most relevant as they prepare to take on the new year. Based on a survey of institutional investors across the globe, Perspectives delves into the issues that are keeping LPs awake at night via a mix of LP-driven data, features and expert commentaries from industry thought leaders. You can download a copy here.

Now is also the time for you to tell us which groups outperformed in 2015 by voting in our annual awards.

There’s no doubt that this year has been jam-packed with private equity activity. A combination of high entry multiples and cheap debt have made it a great time to sell, and GPs have certainly taken advantage of the current climate. Through the third quarter fund managers distributed $392 billion to their investors from realisations and dividend recaps, according to data from Triago, putting the year well on the way to topping 2014’s net distributions of $477 billion.

All that capital, of course, must go somewhere, and fundraising figures for the year have again been robust. Closed-ended private equity funds have collected almost $360 billion so far this year, according to data from PEI Research & Analytics, and well over 2,000 managers are still on the road.

Putting all that capital to work has not been easy, and industry insiders everywhere have told us that deal activity feels a little sluggish on the buy-side as GPs seek to avoid falling into the trap of overpaying and overleveraging.

The industry has also faced intense scrutiny from regulators, lawmakers and the media alike, and has been called upon to defend itself more than once.

So who has done the industry proud in 2015? Which transactions deserve to be named ‘deal of the year’? Which GPs dominated the mid-market? And who were the LPs that, through their words and actions, truly engaged with and changed the pace of the asset class?

Every year since 2001 we’ve given you – the industry itself – the opportunity to determine the outcome of private equity’s most extensive set of global awards.

With nearly 70 categories across three regions, you’re encouraged to vote in as many as you feel qualified to judge. To help you navigate, we’ve drawn up a shortlist for each category based on our coverage throughout the year and our conversations with the market. We have also left a space for you to add in your own choice, if you feel that the rightful winner isn’t on our list.

The rules for voting are simple: you may only vote once; you may not vote for yourself/your own firm, nor engage in block voting; and non-corporate email addresses will be discounted (ie, no Hotmail or Gmail entries). The polls close on Friday 8 January, with results announced in March.

We can't wait to hear what you think. CLICK HERE TO START VOTING NOW