Private Equity Titans’ Nerves on Edge at Lavish Industry Party

Outside the chandelier-laden function rooms, away from the cameras and far from the stuffy booths in the main conference halls, the giants of private equity were getting honest with each other.

Despite many public proclamations that the industry has made it through the worst of this new world of higher interest rates relatively unscathed, life is actually not that great, they whispered. Investors are getting antsy, they added, and the pressure to return their money back to them is becoming so intense it may spell a make-or-break moment for many general partners.

“About every ten years we have some ...