EY’s Positioning to win survey seeks to understand the rapidly evolving link between private equity firms and investors, both poised to capitalize on an opportunistic environment. These valuable insights offer a perspective of similarities and differences as seen through the lens of these two communities, and will assist CFOs as they institute operating models that position their firms to win the competition for capital. http://www.ey.com/PECFOSurvey2015

1. >$10b
53%
13%
7%
27%
$1b–$10b
55%
9%
36%
<$1b
30%
10%
10%
50%
0.23 0.20
0.28 0.25
0.18 0.18
0.36
0.69
0.51
0.31 0.320.35
13%64%64%11% 49%
Private
equity
Team
stability
Proven
operational
excellence
Reporting Clear
strategy
GP capital
commitment
Real
estate
Infrastructure
Natural
resources
Hedge
funds
46%
26%
10%
10%
30%
13%
54%
5%
3%
3%
1% 2%
17%
7%
16%
10%
10%
15%
9%
14%
3% 2% 3%
3%
3%
3%
5%
7%
10%
23%
21%
10%
7%
6%
10%
5%
10%
25%
21%
10%
4%
7%
6%
10%
14%
20%
18%
17%
12%
4%
Fund
accounting
Tax
Valuation
Treasury
Human
resources
Supporting
investment
professionals
Investor
relations
Portfolio
analytics
Compliance
Technology
Current CurrentExpected Expected
Most important Least important
59%
Very important
33%
Important
8%
Not important
Only requesting
Case by case
All
To which investors do
private equity firms provide
customized reporting?
Frequency
12%Timeliness
50%
Portfolio analytics Valuation Compliance Fund accounting Treasury Tax
Americas Europe Asia$10b$1b–$10b$1b
Americas Europe Asia$10b$1b–$10b$1b
Transparency
66%
1 to 4 5 to 10 More than 10 None
Digital Hard copy Combined
Spreadsheet Third-party solution Proprietary solution
More than Equal to Less than
55%
31%
14%
18%
1%–5%
20%
6%–10%
15%
11%–15%
47%
15%
Currently
Currently
Collect
Preferred
Preferred
Analysis
84%
87%
78%
82%
16%
13%
16%
14%
75% 6%19%
74% 10%16%
4%
6%
62%34%
4%
Most likely Least likely Driven by finance team Driven by investment team
Financial
Tax
Average ratio of finance team to investment team
What are the finance functions investors prefer PE firms keep in-house rather than outsource?
Average ratio of finance team to total employees
60% 60%
48%
31%
26%
12%
Positioning
to win2015 global private equity survey
EY’s Positioning to win report presents the views, insights
and observations of more than 170 private equity (PE) chief
financial officers (CFOs), finance executives and investors
from around the world representing all categories of assets
under management.
© 2015 EYGM Limited. All Rights Reserved. | EYG no. CK0885 | 1501-1383833 NE
To what asset class are investors most
and least likely to allocate capital?
How important to investors is
meeting PE finance teams?
How do PE firms believe they could
improve investor reporting?
How many times per year are investors requesting
customized reports from PE firms?
How are investors currently receiving financial
and tax information from PE firms? How would
they prefer to receive it?
What traditional finance functions are
currently viewed by CFOs as most and
least important? Expected to be most
and least important in two years?
What strategic finance functions are
currently viewed by CFOs as most and
least important? Expected to be most
and least important in two years?
How are PE firms automating the collection and
analysis of portfolio company data?
Beyond track record, what are investors most
concerned with?
What percentage of
investors’ time is dedicated
to monitoring PE?
How does this time compare to
the time investors dedicate to
monitoring other asset classes?
Competition for capital
Investors have added a new layer — proven operational
excellence — to their definition of performance
Operational excellence
Investors value the finance function
Reporting
The critical link between PE firms and investors
Resources
Headcount generally is not keeping pace with increases
in responsibilities
Outlook
CFOs expect tactical
functions to drop in
importance …
… and plan to increase
their focus on those
that are strategic
To download the survey, go to: ey.com/PECFOSurvey2015