“Private equity has consistently delivered double-digit returns for five decades. In particular, an excess return on shares is regularly generated (on a long-term average of more than 4 percent pa),” says BÖRSE am Sonntag.
Was ist Private Equity?
There are companies like Douglas, Airbnb and Lululemon that are not publicly traded. It means they reserve the right to set a minimum capital limit, in this case €5 million, at which investors can invest in the company.
This has the advantages for investors to have an exclusive share in the profits, to achieve higher profits than on the market and, of course, to exercise influence.
Gradually, this form of investment crystallized and people became aware of how strong this type of investment is. Private equity specialists and banks responded with a creation: the private equity fund.
These are mixtures of several non-listed companies in which private investors participate with smaller sums and mostly monthly savings plans and not one-off investments.
Unfortunately, every successful industry has its black sheep. Stefan Kühn can defend himself against such accusations. After his first company, “AUTARK Entertainment Group AG” went bankrupt, he founded the company “Performance to go PLC”.
The company operates unchecked by BaFin with its headquarters abroad and advertises by telephone. The skepticism increases when one considers the three-year prison sentence that he was serving in Germany, the ten-month pre-trial detention in Switzerland and also the judgment for damages of 1.335 million euros in Liechtenstein.
A master of deception, one reads the various characteristics of the private equity described on the website only to find out that “unfortunately, the expected return was not achieved”.
Venture capital is also increasingly highlighted here – the financing of start-ups and young, innovative growth companies. In this area, risk management is of course more challenging than in established companies. It is easier to convey to investors why high losses and no profits were made and many customers had to experience this.
The recommendation of Stiftung Warentest from January 12, 2017 remains the same: “You should stop the deposits.”