The world of private equity isn’t as private as it once was. These days, most firms have websites that spell out investment criteria, portfolio holdings and perhaps a snapshot of total funds raised or capital available for investment. However, this isn’t always the case.  If you check out TPG Capital’s website, you’ll see what I mean - no mention of capital available, investments held, or professionals with whom to contact. Not sure what the strategic value is in having a site that doesn’t provide much info, but that’s the beauty of private equity.

In any case, when comparing a website such as TPG’s to that of a similar mega-sized firm such as Apax Partners’, it’s quickly apparent the stark differences in strategy firms have as it relates to releasing info. Not only does Apax provide professional info and a search function to quickly locate, they even group certain employees by sector specialty.

Apax also provides an informative listing (quite rare) of every fund raised since inception (see below). Now if we could just tie all this to a firm’s overall performance, we might have something.

It’s been pretty well documented the benefits companies receive by maintaining a blog. Not only can you stay in touch with customers and get instant feedback on new products and services, but blog posts also build fresh content and enhance the likelihood of someone landing on your website. According to Hubspot (via a UMass - Dartmouth study), 36% of the 2008 Inc. 500 maintain a blog versus 19% the year before.  With such rapid adoption (at least amongst high-growth businesses), you would think this would trickle down somewhat to slower growth/established businesses, and perhaps even private equity firms.  However, in periodically updating firm information within Private Equity Database, one constant theme in reviewing firm websites is the lack of a blog. So why is it that private equity firms don’t blog?

Partly it must be the nature of the business with no real product or service needing close scrutiny from the public. However, given most firms maintain an active news page outlining acquisitions, disposals, and personnel moves, clearly there’s an interest in promoting firm activity. Through a blog, firms could easily expand on press releases, gain greater exposure, and offer a little firm insight to the dealmakers and entrepreneurs looking for an exit.

Blogging is increasingly common amongst VCs who have to stay in touch with the budding entrepreneurs they depend on for investments.  Kleiner Perkins recently started an iphone blog - iFundVC - to promote their new investment vehicle dedicated to iPhone apps, and VC firm Union Square Ventures maintains their entire website as a blog.

At the end of the day, it’s all about deal-flow, finding the right deals, and connecting with dealmakers before everyone’s got wind of a transaction. Given the lack of private equity blogging, and the tremendous interest in the field, it seems as though the managing directors willing to polish their writing skills could get a leg-up.

I doubt you’ll find an article on this subject so we’ll start it off here.

Going through the 1,400 odd firms in Private Equity Database, it seems as though most private equity groups follow a fairly predictable pattern when coming up with firm names. If it’s not “something Group”, “something Partners”, “something Capital”, or better yet, “something Capital Partners”, chances are your firm is in the minority.

Of the firms we have listed, the most popular name form is “something Capital” with 381 firms or 28% choosing this arrangement. The second most popular is “something Group” with 296 representatives (22%). In third place (and highly related to the No. 1 choice above) is “something Capital Partners” with 206 total entries (15%). Finally, even the combination of “something Partners” is popular enough for 80 records (6%).

Adding up the numbers, that works out to more than 7 out of 10 firms choosing at least one form of the above. Once you add in “something Equity”, (as in Providence Equity or Platinum Equity), that essentially just leaves eponymous firms.

So what explains the popularity of inserting “Capital” and the lack of naming originality occasionally found in other alternative asset classes, (see Y Combinator for one)? The biggest reason certainly has to be the concept that adding “Capital” or “Capital Partners” lends an inexpensive form of seeming credibility, both for prospective LPs as well as potential sellers and their representatives. Even if your name is “Failure Capital” it’s hard not to sound at least a little successful.

Housing some of the world’s largest and most well-known firms, everyone regards New York City as the private equity capital of the world. KKR, The Blackstone Group, and Cerberus Capital all call New York home, as well as many newer, emerging firms such as LNK Partners, Elevation Partners, and Aquiline Partners.

But just how crowded is America’s largest city when it comes to doing deals? In filtering info within Private Equity Database, we find there are over 200 firms headquartered in New York City, with nearly 90 residing in the 10022 zip code alone. With so many firms in a small upper east side area, you’d imagine there would be less unique addresses than firms. That’s certainly the case with the 86 firms in the 10022 zip listed at 46 different addresses.

So which building contains the most PE HQs? With eight private equity tenants, that would be 320 Park Avenue (see pic at right). Arsenal Capital, Zephyr Management, Kelso & Company, Gilbert Global Equity, One Equity Partners, EOS Partners, MidOcean Partners, and Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe all reside under one roof in the Mutual of America Building.

Well, at least according to Google Trends.  Even as we approach the mid-point of mild 2008, and after the significant run-up and fall-off that was private equity in 2007, private equity in general seems to be holding its own in comparison to venture capital and hedge funds.  “Hedge Fund” and “Private Equity” somewhat mirror each other in terms of Google search volume which goes along with the recent trend seeing investment firms such as Cerberus and Fortress transform more into private equity firms from their hedge fund roots.

However, what’s more amazing when comparing the three asset classes is the steady decline in overall interest for “venture capital”.  Having dipped below “private equity” in 2004, venture capital hasn’t regained its Google momentum, despite the popularity of tech and startup focused blogs such as TechCrunch and VentureBeat as well as the continued flow of Web 2.0 ideas.