This article reviews empirical methods to assess risk and return in private equity. I discuss data and econometric issues for deal-level, fund-level, and publicly traded partnerships data. Risk-adjusted return estimates vary substantially by method, time period, and data source. The weight of...

This paper suggests a solution to what has become known as the "private equity premium puzzle" (Moskowitz and Vissing-Jorgensen (2002)). We interpret occupational choice as a dynamic portfolio choice problem of a life-cycle investor facing a liquidity constraint and imperfect information about...

This paper studies the quantitative properties of a general equilibrium model where a continuum of heterogeneous entrepreneurs are subject to aggregate as well as idiosyncratic risks in the presence of a borrowing constraint. The calibrated model matches the highly skewed wealth and income...

A popular strategy to assess mutual funds is to look at past returns and rank funds based on their risk and return characteristics. This simple approach has its advantages but it is uni-dimensional in nature and misses important characteristics that may impact future returns. We propose...

This paper proposes a theory of the equilibrium liquidity premia of private equity funds and explores its asset-pricing implications. The theory is based on the notion that investors are exposed to the risk of facing surprise liquidity shocks, which upon arrival force them to liquidate their...

While much is known about the financialization of commodities, less is known about how to profitably invest in commodities. We develop a four-factor asset pricing model of commodity returns. Our four-factor model prices both commodity spot and term risk premia in an intuitive manner related to...

Private equity has traditionally been thought to provide diversi cation bene ts. However, these benefi ts may be lower than anticipated. We find that private equity suffers from signifi cant exposure to the same liquidity risk factor as public equity and other alternative asset classes. The...

Private equity has traditionally been thought to provide diversification benefits However, these benefits may be lower than anticipated. We find that private equity suffers from significant exposure to the same liquidity risk factor as public equity and other alternative asset classes. The...