PE giants sign on to ILPA principles

A new batch of private equity firms have lent their support to the Private Equity Principles, a set of best practice guidelines put forth by the Institutional Limited Partners Association, which call for interest alignment, strong governance and greater transparency.

Pantheon, Apax Partners, Oaktree Capital Management, First Reserve Corporation, Warburg Pincus, Hellman & Friedman and Adveq have thrown their weight behind the principles, according to an ILPA statement.

In total, 150 industry organisations have endorsed the principles, which were updated earlier this year.

In January, ILPA released an updated version of its Private Equity Principles that included more information about carry clawback best practices, increased clarity and descriptions of the three existing guiding principles – transparency, governance and alignment of interests – and expanded context around the purposes of key guidelines.

ILPA also released in January reporting templates for capital calls and distribution notices to improve “uniformity and transparency and reduce expenses in administering and monitoring private equity investments”.

Other private equity firms to endorse ILPA’s principles include Apollo Management, Coller Capital and Hermes Private Equity. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts signed on to the principles last month.

The “endorsement is a commitment of our general support for the efforts of ILPA and other industry supporters to strengthen the basic tenets of the principles with the goal of improving the private equity industry for the long-term benefit of all of its participants”, said KKR’s co-founders and co-chief executives, Henry Kravis and George Roberts, in a statement.