‘Crazy, Right?’: More PE Funds Than McDonald’s Signals Pressure

Private-market giants are pinning hopes that the next surge of growth will separate the best from the rest in an industry saturated by too many firms.

“There are 19,000 private equity funds in the US. There are 14,000 McDonald’s in the US. How are there more private equity funds than McDonald’s? That’s actually crazy, right?” KKR & Co. partner Alisa Wood said Wednesday at Bloomberg’s Women, Money and Power event in London. “Capital coming back is really important. The mark-to-market paper gains only take you so far.”

Alisa Wood

Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg

After decades of rapid growth, higher interest rates have made it a ...