Eamon

Five limited partners reported that they invested at least $250 million in individual funds during during the first quarter, according to research by Buyouts magazine.

U.S.-based buyout and mezzanine firms collected about $26.1billion in commitments during the first quarter, with nearly $1.7 billion from mezzanine funds. The 2013 fundraising drive is slightly behind 2012’s pace. At this time last year, fundraising stood at $26.5 billion.

Exiting by U.S.-based financial sponsors has been laid-back during the first three months of the New Year. By the numbers, exits both by mergers and acquisitions and those by initial public offerings have been slow.

The Private Equity Growth Capital Council issued a performance update report in mid-March that shows quite a bit of disparity among the major PE benchmarks at the 10-year mark, from 9.1 percent on the low end to 20.4 percent at the high end.

Fundraising by U.S.-based buyout and mezzanine funds nudged slightly higher during the last two weeks and stands at more than $19.1 billion.

The Private Equity Growth Capital Council released a report in mid-March indicating that private equity continues to strengthen the retirement security.

Standard & Poor’s Financial Services, which tracks entities it views as most at risk with its monthly “weakest links” report, identified 149 entities around the world in its latest listing (release March 7).

Domestic buyout and mezzanine firms have secured about $19 billion in commitments so far this year. The latest roundup includes two closing above $1 billion.

What is the right hurdle for private equity firms before they receive carry?

The Private Equity Growth Capital Council released a whiteboard video in February to defend the treatment of carried interest at the capital gains rate.