On March 18, 2016, researchers and practitioners gathered at Caltech to present and discuss emerging research on private equity at the second annual Caltech/USC Private Equity Finance Conference. In collaboration with the USC Marshall School of Business and with the support of The Linde Institute, the conference was attended by over 30 people.
The conference included five new academic papers presented by researchers from Harvard, Dartmouth, and Ohio State, with a focus on the economics of the private equity partnership and the new secondary market in private equity fund shares. Academics from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, MIT, and UNC also participated.
A unique feature of this second annual conference was the opportunity for authors to present relatively early work in front of a small, receptive audience willing to provide valuable feedback at critical stages in a project's life. The conference was open to graduate students from both Caltech and USC, allowing young researchers to see how early-stage research is presented and to network with active academics in finance.