Private Equity Tops Hedge Funds as London’s Big Office Spenders

The swanky neighborhoods of Mayfair and St James’s have long been synonymous with London’s hedge fund community, but increasingly, private equity firms have been spending big by lavishing staff with the fanciest office spaces in the city.

Buyout firms are more densely concentrated in London’s most expensive postcodes and they’re renting more space for each employee, according to a new analysis by real estate broker CBRE Group Inc. While both groups have a propensity to pay above-market rents in order to secure the best space, PE firms are paying far bigger premiums to local rents too, the broker’s data show. ...