Supporters of the $10trn private equity industry say it fuels economic growth and delivers leaner, better-performing companies.

One leading critic of the sector is Ludovic Phalippou, who says that the industry routinely overstates its financial performance. And, he says, private equity funds charge a whopping 6-7% a year in fees, wiping out any potential benefits to investors.

In the latest New Money Review podcast, I interview Phalippou, who is professor of financial economics at Oxford University. We cover:

• What is private equity?
• How big is the private equity market?
• Why have private equity assets grown fivefold in a decade?
• What is the economic footprint of private equity?
• How should we measure private equity funds’ performance?
• How honest are private equity firms in reporting performance?
• Do private equity funds have higher returns than public equity funds?
• What do private equity funds cost?
• Agency conflicts in the private equity industry
• The impact of recent interest rate rises on private equity
• The need for standardised reporting of private equity performance.