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Institute for Private Capital launched

The University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School has launched the Institute for Private Capital (IPC).

“Our mission is to promote a deep understanding of the role of private capital markets in the global economy, which is not widely understood,” said Douglas A. Shackelford, dean and Meade H. Willis Distinguished Professor of Taxation at UNC Kenan-Flagler.

“The institute will come to define how private capital is taught and learned in every business school,” said Shackelford when he announced the new institute on April 24 at the business school’s eighth annual Alternative Investments Conference attended by 150 business and academic leaders and business students.

The IPC will create databases, produce research and develop curriculum and educational initiatives, which are of great interest to both academic and industry leaders.

“We will create and share the data and knowledge that are missing today,” said Gregory W. Brown, professor of finance and director of the IPC.

“By creating the most comprehensive database on private capital in the world, we will be able to provide dependable information, ground-breaking research and accurate benchmarking across the industry and the academy,” said Brown. “Few academic researchers focus on private capital because so little data is available – and IPC will change that.”

The database will cover private capital investment – such as venture capital funds, buy-out and growth capital funds, hedge funds, debt funds, real estate funds, natural resources funds, and closely held and family businesses.

“Curriculum development and educational initiatives are critical because students need to understand how decisions to invest private capital are made and the economic impact they have,” Brown said.

“This is just the beginning,” said Shackelford. “By establishing the Institute for Private Capital, UNC Kenan-Flagler has decided to expand our focus on research, teaching, public policy and outreach initiatives that affect private capital markets,” Shackelford said. “Since private capital constitutes the majority of global capital, IPC research will have a significant impact on practice and policy, and will spur curricular innovations nationally and internationally.”

IPC will work with a global team of faculty from other top universities, leading industry practitioners and key policy makers. It builds on the success of UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Private Equity Research Consortium (PERC) where academic and industry experts work together to generate new knowledge about private capital markets based on objective academic research. PERC has held an annual research conference hosted by UNC in Chapel Hill since 2010.

The IPC will have a research council which will help identify critical areas for new research and provide feedback on projects. Its founding members include Raymond Chan of Adams Street Partners, Peter Cornelius of AlpInvest Partners/The Carlyle Group, Barry Griffiths of Landmark Partners, Michael Miles of Guggenheim Investments, Kevin SigRist of the North Carolina Retirement Systems, Ruediger Stucke of Warburg Pincus and Brown.

For more information about IPC, visit ipc.unc.edu.

4.27.2015