Dear friends of the Campus for Finance – WHU Private Equity Conference,
It has been a great pleasure to welcome everyone at the Campus for Finance – WHU Private Equity Conference over the course of the last 16 years. The WHU community is delighted to welcome so many distinguished speakers and international participants.
The past four decades have witnessed a tremendous growth in the private equity industry. The growth in private equity funds has outperformed almost any other asset class. Much of this growth reflects investors' growing appreciation of the effectiveness of the organizational structures and control mechanisms employed by private equity funds.
The more recent past reflects similar developments, with high investment, strong exit markets, attractive returns, and hot fund-raising activity, with an unprecedented $3 trillion raised over the past five years. At the same time, we observe a drop in deal count since 2014. Such developments may be indicative of a maturing industry. Indeed, banks are reconfiguring their operations to serve such a transaction-heavy clientele and limited partners are playing a more active role—developments that may suggest a reconfiguration of the private equity ecosystem.
The speakers in the program are uniquely placed to debate and highlight the key themes, trends, and current practices for the audience. Especially interesting will be to learn the priorities and developments from several local and international private equity investors, companies, and other influencers.
All members and friends of WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management are proud that the WHU Private Equity Conference has established itself as an internationally respected platform for exchanging ideas on key issues around the private equity industry. This accomplishment would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of a small group of student organizers. Each year, they put a large amount of time and energy to organize the WHU Private Equity Conference. At the same time, this effort is a demonstration of their entrepreneurial spirit and their commitment to excellence—key elements of the WHU’s DNA. I cannot thank them enough for this achievement.
We all look forward to two days of inspiring talks, lively panel discussions, enlightening break-out sessions, and networking possibilities. I wish all participants a wonderful and stimulating time at the Campus for Finance – WHU Private Equity Conference 2024.
Prof. B. Burcin Yurtoglu
The Campus for Finance e.V. was founded in 2004 by current and former members of the student teams and Prof. Dr. Markus Rudolf. As one of many student associations at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, the CFF e.V. provides the organizational structure for the whole CFF family, while also being the legal organizer of the CFF conference series together with the WHU.
The aim is to assist the student teams organizing the different CFF conferences and to foster the exchange of knowledge between the student teams themselves and the CFF alumni.
Members of the association are the current teams, the former student organizers and people who supported the Campus for Finance in an extraordinary manner.
WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management is an internationally oriented and privately financed business school based in Vallendar and Düsseldorf. Founded in 1984, WHU is now one of the most renowned German business schools with a strong international reputation.
Since its establishment, WHU has proved itself to be a paragon of future-oriented research and teaching in business administration. The range of courses includes two Bachelor programs and five Master of Science Programs, a Full-Time MBA Program, a Part-Time MBA Program, the Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA-Program, as well as the Bucerius-WHU Master of Law and Business-Joachim Herz Program (MLB). The business school now attracts nearly 2080 students in all programs each year, including the doctoral students. In addition, WHU Executive Education offers customized programs for companies, as well as open enrollment programs for individual participants.
WHU also has the authority to award PhDs and professorships. Its international network includes more than 195 partner universities across all continents, with which there are exchanges of lecturers and students, as well as cooperation in research. WHU is regularly certified by EFMD (EQUIS), FIBAA and AASCB, which guarantees an excellent standard of research and academic programs, as well as a high degree of internationalization.
Additionally, WHU is the only private business school in Germany that's a member of the German Research Association (DFG). In both national and international rankings, WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management continues to occupy leading positions.
