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"In the future, when buying private equity, we can only choose it through word of mouth?" In a private equity group, several private equity marketers and investors expressed some doubts about the future marketing methods and investment channels of private equity.

According to the regulations of the China Securities Association on April 30, from August 1, securities companies or Internet sales platforms can only display the performance of private equity products under the premise of having a commissioned sales relationship. Under the new regulations, some third-party platforms urgently removed private equity products in batches, causing a large number of private equity net values ​​to "disappear" overnight.

Private equity professionals interviewed believe that the new regulations will not have much impact on private equity institutions with stable sources of funds and customer channels; but for some small and medium-sized private equity firms, the new regulations may increase operating costs and may even cause some institutions to be "gradually eliminated by the market."

In this situation, some small and medium-sized private equity firms try to attract potential investors and rebuild trust through investor exchange meetings.

Tens of billions of private equity net worth was "delisted"

On August 1, the "Guidelines for the Operation of Private Equity Investment Funds" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines") will be officially implemented.

The "Guidelines" set clear requirements for the disclosure of the net value of private equity funds. Among them, private equity managers are required not to provide fund net value and other performance-related information to institutions or individuals with whom they do not have a sales entrustment relationship. Except for private equity fund managers and fund sales institutions that have signed a fund agency sales agreement with them, no institution or individual may display or transmit fund net value and other performance-related information.

As the guidelines are about to take effect, some third-party platforms have cancelled the display of the net value of non-distribution products. For example, Private Equity Ranking Network has gradually removed the performance of all non-distribution private equity products on July 26, and currently only displays the net value of 1,038 private equity products that have signed agency sales agreements.

The net value of products under the names of some star fund companies has also been removed from the shelves. According to the information on the website, Oriental Harbor has a total of 106 products, but only three of them show performance; many private equity funds with tens of billions of yuan, such as Jinglin and Danshuiquan, do not have any products showing performance.

At the same time, the Private Equity Ranking Network no longer displays the cumulative returns, annualized returns, and returns for the past year of private equity companies, which means that investors or institutions will no longer be able to obtain the overall performance of an institution.

The First Financial News reporter learned that in order to deal with the above situation, many private equity sales channels have turned to private equity managers to re-sign and update the agency sales agreements to meet the new regulations on net value and performance display requirements.

On July 31, Private Equity Ranking Network released a "Letter to Investors" and stated that in order to strictly implement new regulatory rules, it will remove the performance data of private equity funds that have not established a distribution cooperation relationship with the platform; the platform will not establish a distribution relationship or display performance with private equity managers who lack professional management capabilities and have poor compliance and integrity records.

Judging from its subsequent statements, Private Equity Ranking Network is still striving to establish distribution relationships with more private equity funds.

Small and medium-sized private equity firms will be impacted

"The impact is still quite large. After all, the products cannot be displayed." said the head of the quantitative marketing department of a private equity firm with a market value of tens of billions of yuan.

Dan Bin, chairman of Oriental Harbor Investment, expressed concern about private equity funds' failure to disclose their net worth and holdings.

He suggested that the opposite approach should be taken, requiring all private equity funds to disclose their holdings. Only when investors can clearly understand the companies they invest in can they effectively avoid risks. At the same time, the net value of the fund should also be made public so that the public can monitor the performance of the fund company. Otherwise, if the fund company reappears under a different name, it will be difficult for investors to understand its true situation.

But more professionals believe that the "Private Equity Guidelines" will help clean up the private equity industry environment and protect investors.

For example, the "Private Equity Guidelines" point out that private equity fund managers and fund sales institutions that sign agency sales agreements with them are not allowed to use the past performance of private equity securities investment funds with a scale of less than RMB 10 million and an establishment period of less than 6 months for publicity, sales, or ranking.

Those interviewed believe that this move will clear out a large number of non-compliant private equity institutions.

Dr. Hu Bo, investment director of Shanghai Bofei Fund, believes that the disappearance of a large amount of private equity net value is like a private equity investment without a guide. In the past development of private equity, securities companies and other third-party institutions provided the market with a large amount of private equity net value data, which played a certain auxiliary role in investors' private equity investment and reduced the cost of investors' decision-making.

"This also makes some investors think that private equity investment is a very simple thing. Some investors make investments based solely on net value, or even buy products according to performance rankings. This will cause big problems when economic cycles and market styles change. On the other hand, the majority of investors cannot see the net value of private equity and may have a stronger sense of awe for private equity investment. In the long run, investors will rely more on large professional institutions, which will have a greater impact on small and medium-sized private equity firms," ​​said Hu Bo.

Many interviewees believe that well-known large and established private equity firms will not be greatly affected by the new regulations.

"We have stable channels with securities firms and banks. The removal of product net value from third-party sales channels has little impact on us." A partner of a well-known and established private equity firm explained to the First Financial reporter that he believes that small and medium-sized private equity firms may be "more affected."

Some small and medium-sized private equity firms also have their own marketing plans.

In an interview with the First Financial reporter, Zhu Kan, partner of Beiyin Private Equity, admitted that his institution "will be affected to some extent." After all, compared with the previous ability to directly display the net value of products, the new regulations have undoubtedly increased costs in product operations.

For example, not showing performance may affect the transparency and trust of private equity funds. Performance display is one of the important bases for investors to evaluate the ability of fund managers and fund performance. If private equity funds do not show performance, investors may find it difficult to accurately evaluate the risks and returns of the funds, which will affect their trust in the funds and investment decisions.

"We don't have many products for agency sales. Currently, external cooperation agencies have gradually removed all products that have not signed agency sales agreements. We are also preparing to sign agency sales contracts with more third-party service agencies in the future. With the implementation of new regulations, the entry threshold for agency sales channels is becoming increasingly stringent. Only private equity institutions that are at the top of the industry, have a stable product history, meet 3-5 years of performance requirements and management scale, and have a strong ability to recover lost net worth will be included in the agency sales category by entering the 'white list' of agency sales agencies." Zhu Kan said.

He also mentioned that after private equity funds stop updating their net asset value, they can still use other means to conduct marketing and promotion to attract potential investors.

For example, building a brand image, precision marketing, making full use of Internet channels to interact and communicate with investors in real time, holding high-quality events, inviting professional investors, scholars and other people to participate, providing investors with valuable information and investment opportunities, etc. These strategies and means not only help to increase the visibility and attractiveness of private equity funds, but also enhance investors' trust and satisfaction with private equity funds, thereby promoting the sales and promotion of private equity funds.

Zhu Kan concluded that although not showing performance may have an impact on certain aspects of the private equity industry, the implementation of new regulatory measures and internal management measures can ensure the healthy development of the industry and protect the interests of investors.

He believes that private equity itself should be disclosed to specific investors, and the "Private Equity Guidelines" have allowed the private equity industry to truly return to its "private equity" attributes, helping to promote a virtuous cycle of survival of the fittest and promote the standardized development of the private equity industry.