BizResearch

Global Private Equity Report 2012

Source: Bain & Company

As 2012 began, the outlook for private equity was shrouded in uncertainty: Buyers and sellers finding it hard to agree on value. Anemic exit markets. Ominous signs for fund-raising. An industry awash in commitments, with nearly $1 trillion in dry powder. Almost $2 trillion worth of assets still on general partners’ books, more than 75% of them valued below carry hurdle rates.

But as we show in Bain & Company’s Global Private Equity Report 2012, the contours of a new future for PE are finally coming into sharp focus. In this report, we explain the new realities and describe what PE firms that want to continue to produce top-tier returns will need to do to prepare.

This report provides a timely look at every major aspect of private equity, with fresh data and insights from surveys and interviews with leading industry insiders. We also bring to bear the experience and judgment that Bain & Company derives from its unparalleled position as the leading adviser to the private equity industry and its stakeholders

Click here to download the report (Pre-registration required)

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What do CEOs Do?

Source: Centre for Economic Performance

CEP Discussion Paper No 1145

Abstract: We develop a methodology to collect and analyze data on CEOs’ time use. The idea - sketched out in a simple theoretical set-up - is that CEO time is a scarce resource and its allocation can help us identify the firm’s priorities as well as the presence of governance issues. We follow 94 CEOs of top-600 Italian firms over a pre-specified week and record the time devoted each day to different work activities. We focus on the distinction between time spent with insiders (employees of the firm) and outsiders (people not employed by the firm). Individual CEOs differ systematically in how much time they spend at work and in how much time they devote to insiders vs. outsiders. We analyze the correlation between time use, managerial effort, quality of governance and firm performance, and interpret the empirical findings within two versions of our model, one with effective and one with imperfect corporate governance. The patterns we observe are consistent with the hypothesis that time spent with outsiders is on average less beneficial to the firm and more beneficial to the CEO and that the CEO spends more time with outsiders when governance is poor.

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World of Work Report 2012

Source: ILO (International Labour Organization)

The World of Work Report 2012 provides a comprehensive analysis of recent labour market and social trends, assesses risks of social unrest and presents employment projections for the next five years. The report emphasizes that while employment has begun to recover slowly, job quality is deteriorating and there is a growing sense of unfairness. Moreover, given the pressure on governments to rein in expenditure, policy efforts have focused on structural reforms to boost employment creation. However, if policy instruments are not carefully designed, they could exacerbate the employment situation and aggravate further equity concerns, with potentially long-lasting adverse consequences for both the economy and society.

The report addresses the following questions:

• To what extent has the slow recovery aggravated social conditions, including falling incomes, deepening poverty and worsening inequality?
• Have countries gone too far, too fast with fiscal consolidation? How should they support recovery while meeting fiscal goals in the medium term?
• What can be expected from recent labour market reforms?
• How can investment be boosted so as to ensure a long-lasting recovery in both the economy and jobs?
• What have been the barriers to implementing a more job-centred and equity-enhancing policy approach?
• Why has the business-as-usual scenario maintained its centrality despite the increasing risk of social unrest?

This report calls for a carefully designed policy approach that takes into consideration the urgent need to create quality jobs while at the same time laying the ground for a more productive, fairer economy and labour market.

Click here to read the full report

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The @Work State of Mind Project: Engaging the Most Engaged

Source: Forbes Insights

Summary: The @Work State of Mind means that most global business decision makers are on, irrespective of time or location. Reaching them successfully requires an understanding of more than how they blur the lines between work and personal time in terms of their usage of technological devices, time slots or locations. To communicate with @Work State of Mind decision makers, it’s imperative to understand their motivations, emotional attitudes and levels of satisfaction with round-the-clock, all-device messaging. This report was designed to explore the new @Work world and start a conversation about devising the most effective messaging.

For this study, Forbes Insights, in association with gyro, the global ideas shop, surveyed 543 executives and conducted dozens of one-on-one interviews. Respondents described themselves as decision makers, with most focused on business operations and strategy. Forty-seven percent worked for companies with revenues of more than $1 billion, including the single largest grouping (19%), who worked for firms with revenues above $10 billion. The geographic breakdown included 316 respondents in the US, 105 in the U.K. and 122 in Continental Europe.

Click here to download the study (registration required)

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The True Cost of Energy

Source: IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research)

The cost of an average energy bill has risen dramatically in recent years: from £605 in 2004 to £1,060 in 2010 (CCC 2011b). Higher energy bills were a key factor in the increase in inflation in 2010/11 and are contributing to the squeeze in living standards faced by many families in the UK.

There has been a vigorous debate about the cause of these price rises, in particular the contribution that has been made by environmental and social policies.1 Evidence shows that the rises were mainly due to increases in the wholesale cost of gas (DECC 2011a). The government’s independent advisers, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), calculated that the wholesale cost of gas added £290 to the average energy bill between 2004 and 2010, compared with £75 for environmental and social policies (CCC 2011b).

The level of profits made by energy supply companies has also been the focus of scrutiny. The energy supply market in the UK was opened to competition in the late 1980s. But there are a number of reasons for thinking that competition in the energy supply market is not in good health.

This report sets out to establish what impact a lack of competition in the energy supply market is having on consumers’ energy bills. In or der to answer this question we estimate the cost to energy companies of supplying households with gas and electricity. We do this through extensive analysis of data published by the energy markets regulator, energy companies and industry associations, among other sources.

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Intelligence - new report from Demos

Source: Demos

The growth of social media poses a dilemma for security and law enforcement agencies. On the one hand, social media could provide a new form of intelligence – SOCMINT – that could contribute decisively to keeping the public safe. On the other, national security is dependent on public understanding and support for the measures being taken to keep us safe.

Social media challenges current conceptions about privacy, consent and personal data, and new forms of technology allow for more invisible and widespread intrusive surveillance than ever before. Furthermore, analysis of social media for intelligence purposes does not fit easily into the policy and legal frameworks that guarantee that such activity is proportionate, necessary and accountable.

This paper is the first effort to examine the ethical, legal and operational challenges involved in using social media for intelligence and insight purposes. It argues that social media should become a permanent part of the intelligence framework but that it must be based on a publicly argued, legal footing, with clarity and transparency over use, storage, purpose, regulation and accountability. #Intelligence lays out six ethical principles that can help government agencies approach these challenges and argues for major changes to the current regulatory and legal framework in the long-term, including a review of the current Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

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Olympics 2012: The Economic Impact Market Assessment 2012

Source: Key Note

Extract from Executive Summary

The economic impact of the Olympic Games on London is the focus of this Key Note Market Assessment; this will be analysed using figures for tourism and hotels from the three previous Olympics, as well as taking into account other significant issues such as transport and security. This report mainly focuses on the economic impact on London during the Games period, with some mentions of prospects for the economy after the Games is over. However, it must be noted that the pre-Games activity, which has been in motion since 2005, has also had an economic effect, such as through investment expenditure, preparatory costs and the potential loss of benefits from projects that may have occurred in London, but were displaced in favour of the Games

The Olympics is set to display London and the UK on the world stage in the summer of 2012, but whether any immediate or future benefits occur as a result of the Games does not appear certain yet. There have been past success stories for previous Games, with the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics being touted as a prime example of economic success as a direct result of it hosting the Games. However, the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal did not prove as economically viable, with Olympic debts the city ran up going unpaid for almost 3 decades. A great deal depends on the reception the Games receive in the UK by the population; although traditionally increases in outbound travel are seen in host countries during Olympic years, the people of Britain may decide to welcome the Games and celebrate its arrival in the UK, thus spending money which would boost the economy.

This report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.

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The Future of Money in a Mobile Age

Authors: Aaron Smith, Janna Anderson, Lee Rainie

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project and Elon University

Overview: Within the next decade, smart-device swiping will have gained mainstream acceptance as a method of payment and could largely replace cash and credit cards for most online and in-store purchases by smartphone and tablet owners, according to a new survey of technology experts and stakeholders.

Many of the people surveyed by Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center and the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project said that the security, convenience and other benefits of “mobile wallet” systems will lead to widespread adoption of these technologies for everyday purchases by 2020.

Others—including some who are generally positive about the future of mobile payments—expect this process to unfold relatively slowly due to a combination of privacy fears, a desire for anonymous payments, demographic inertia, a lack of infrastructure to support widespread adoption, and resistance from those with a financial stake in the existing payment structure.

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Measuring Financial Inclusion: The Global Findex Database

Source: World Bank

Policy Research Working Paper ; No 6025

From the summary:

This paper provides the first analysis of the Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) Database, a new set of indicators that measure how adults in 148 economies save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. The data show that 50 percent of adults worldwide have an account at a formal financial institution, though account penetration varies widely across regions, income groups and individual characteristics. In addition, 22 percent of adults report having saved at a formal financial institution in the past 12 months, and 9 percent report having taken out a new loan from a bank, credit union or microfinance institution in the past year. Although half of adults around the world remain unbanked, at least 35 percent of them report barriers to account use that might be addressed by public policy. Among the most commonly reported barriers are high cost, physical distance, and lack of proper documentation, though there are significant differences across regions and individual characteristics.

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The Global Integrity Report: 2011

Source: Global Integrity Project

From the publication web page

The Global Integrity Report is an essential guide to anti-corruption institutions and mechanisms around the world, intended to help policymakers, advocates, journalists and citizens identify and anticipate the areas where corruption is more likely to occur.

The Report evaluates both anti-corruption legal frameworks and the practical implementation and enforcement of those frameworks, and takes a close look at whether citizen can effectively access and use anti-corruption safeguards.

The Report is prepared by local researchers, journalists and academics using a double-blind peer review process. More than 1,000 local contributors have participated in preparing the Report since 2004.

Each country assessment contained in the Global Integrity Report comprises two core elements: a qualitative Reporter's Notebook and a quantitative Integrity Indicators scorecard. An Integrity Indicators scorecard assesses the existence, effectiveness, and citizen access to key governance and anti-corruption mechanisms through 320 actionable indicators.

They are scored by a lead in-country researcher and blindly reviewed by a panel of peer reviewers, a mix of other in-country experts as well as outside experts. Reporter's Notebooks are reported and written by in-country journalists and blindly reviewed by the same peer review panel.

The insights from the close to a million words of text and 10,000 data points of each year’s Report help shape evidence-based policy reforms that can promote open and accountable government

Click here to read the report

Click here for datasets and previous reports

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Adults Media Use and Attitudes Report

Source: OFCOM

Extract from Press Release

UK adults’ concerns about the internet have dropped steadily since 2005, falling from seven in ten (70 per cent) users to half (50 per cent) by 2011, with confidence online at high levels (84 per cent), according to Ofcom’s Adults Media Use and Attitudes report.

The fall in concern comes as people are spending increasing amounts of time on the internet. The average user now says they are online for over 15 hours each week, an increase of five hours since 2005. The internet is increasingly part of people’s everyday lives wherever they are, and eight in ten adults (79%) now go online on any device in any location – up by 20 percentage points compared to 2005.

Social networking is continuing to grow in popularity and three fifths of adult internet users (59 per cent) say they now have a profile on a social networking site. However, the increase has slowed, with a rise of five percentage points since 2010, compared to increases of ten percentage points in 2010 and 22 percentage points in 2009.

Adults are increasingly turning to the internet for information. Seven in ten (68 per cent) users have accessed the internet to find details about public services, compared to half (49 per cent) in 2005. And eight in ten (79 per cent) have searched online for information about leisure time activities, up from six in ten (61 per cent) in 2005. However, those aged over 65 are less likely than other age-groups to be online – with some 51 per cent saying they do not intend to get the internet at home, compared to 15 per cent of the population as a whole.

Three in ten (29 per cent) internet users said they have had a virus on their home PC in the past twelve months, with a similar number receiving unsolicited emails directing them to a website that asks them for personal information. Almost nine out of ten (87 per cent) home internet users who access through a PC, laptop or netbook said they have anti-virus software installed on their computers at home.

Click here to read the full report

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The Future of Apps and Web

Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project

Overview

The Web Is Dead? No. Experts expect apps and the Web to converge in the cloud; but many worry that simplicity for users will come at a price.

Tech experts generally believe the mobile revolution, the popularity of targeted apps, the monetization of online products and services, and innovations in cloud computing will drive Web evolution. Some survey respondents say while much may be gained, perhaps even more may be lost if the “appification” of the Web comes to pass.

About the Survey

The survey results are based on a non-random, opt-in, online sample of 1,021 Internet experts and other Internet users, recruited via email invitation, Twitter or Facebook from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University.  Since the data are based on a non-random sample, a margin of error cannot be computed, and the results are not projectable to any population other than the experts in this sample

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UK: Golden Opportunities: Social Entrepreneurs in an Ageing Society

Source: UnLtd

The number of people aged 50 and over is growing as our society ages. Yet this age group appears to be under-represented amongst social entrepreneurs.

This Findings Paper explores social entrepreneurship amongst people aged 50+, looking at the motivations, distinctive features and contributions of older social entrepreneurs, and the benefits of social entrepreneurship to them as individuals. It concludes that there is untapped potential in this age group, and that social entrepreneurship may offer some unique solutions to issues associated with an ageing society

Selected Key findings:

Around half of social entrepreneurs aged 50+ are female; 14% are from minority ethnic backgrounds; and 67% are educated to degree level or have professional qualifications.

Factors related to age (such as the feeling of having a lifetime of experience to share) or lifecourse (such as children moving away) often seemed to play a role in motivating people to start a social venture.

There was a tendency for older social entrepreneurs to focus more on creating social value than economic value. Amongst UnLtd’s annual survey respondents aged 48 and above, half generated no turnover during 2009-10. Nevertheless, there were exceptions. For example, 9% of those aged 48 and over generated more than £100,000 turnover in the reporting period.

Click here to read the full report

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The State of the News Media 2012

Source: The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism

Extract from Press Release

More than a quarter of Americans (27%) now get news on mobile devices, and for the vast majority, this is increasing news consumption, the report finds.  More than 80% of smartphone and tablet news consumers still get news on laptop or desktop computers. On mobile devices, news consumers also are more likely to go directly to a news site or use an app, rather than to rely on search — strengthening the bond with traditional news brands.

While technology may be adding to the appeal of traditional news, technology intermediaries are capturing even more of the digital revenue pie. In 2011, five technology giants generated 68% of all digital ad revenue, according to the market research firm eMarketer — and that does not include Amazon and Apple, which make their money from devices and downloads. By 2015, roughly one out of every five display ad dollars is expected to go to Facebook, according to the same source.

Social media platforms, meanwhile, grew substantially over the last year, but still play a limited role in daily news consumption. Only about a third as many news consumers follow stories via Facebook as do so by going directly to news websites or apps or by using search, according to new PEJ survey data released here. For Twitter, the proportion drops to less than a sixth as many.

These are some of the conclusions in the ninth edition of PEJ’s annual State of the News Media report.  The report is a comprehensive analysis of the major trends in news over the last year and includes detailed chapters on eight major media sectors — digital, newspapers, cable news, network TV, local TV news, audio, magazines and ethnic media. This year’s study also includes two new national surveys examining how news is consumed on different devices and the impact of social media on news, a special report on the state of community media and an examination of Native American media.

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Global Private Equity Report

Source: Bain & Company

Extract from report introduction

In the following pages, you will find several integrated topics that describe what is happening today in the world of private equity, with a particular focus on buyouts. We begin with a brief review of 2009—examining what happened and, equally important, explaining what didn’t. From there, we quickly shift to assess the environment the global private equity industry faces in 2010, and what opportunities and headwinds the industry will encounter during the next 12 months and beyond. We make no claims to be seers; our crystal ball is as cloudy as yours in many respects. We do bring the facts to the table in classic Bain fashion and integrate them with our decades of expertise working in the private equity space to characterize the environment all firms must navigate—not just to survive, but to thrive.

We conclude by offering some insights into what leading-edge private equity investors will be doing better and differently in 2010. It’s often said that where you stand depends upon where you sit. If nothing else, it is quite clear that almost all private equity firms sit in different places today than they did five years ago. The processes, organizations and rules of the past may no longer apply to building a successful investment business for the future.

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