PEGCC maps private equity state by state

The Private Equity Growth Capital Council has released an interactive map detailing how much private equity firms have invested in each of the 50 states as part of its continued effort to reverse negative stereotypes associated with the industry.

The map, which can be seen on the PEGCC’s website, allows viewers to examine how private equity capital has been engaged throughout the country, in addition to providing information about public pensions’ investments in the asset class.

When viewers roll their cursor over an individual state on the map, informational graphics pop-up along the sides to indicate how many private equity-backed companies are located in-state; how many people those companies employ worldwide; the total amount of private equity capital invested between 2002 and 2011 as well as the total number of private equity firms headquartered there.

A separate graphic narrows that data’s scope to PEGCC member firms. For example, in Florida, 23 PEGCC member firms sponsor 173 companies with approximately 2,518 facilities in-state. Those facilities employ approximately 159,500 workers within Florida.

In addition to breaking down the industry state-by-state, the map also ranks the top 20 congressional districts in the country in terms of private equity investment value, as well as the top 10 public pensions by the size of their portfolios and the returns generated by those portfolios.

Last week, the organisation released a YouTube video describing how private equity benefits public pensions’ returns, in addition to providing employment opportunities in communities.

The map and video are part of the PEGCC’s “Private Equity At Work” campaign, which launched earlier this year to combat negative perceptions of the industry in response to attacks made over the course of the US election season. The industry has faced an uphill battle in combating those perceptions, particularly as President Barack Obama’s campaign (and at times Romney’s Republican rivals) ran a series of advertisements that highlight failed Bain Capital investments.

Romney, a former Governor of Massachusetts, launched Bain in 1984.

“I don’t mean this to be a sort of Pollyanna, but the attention on private equity has really made people more interested in learning about us – even more so than before,” said PEGCC president Steve Judge in a previous interview with Private Equity International. “And there’s a positive aspect to that … The challenge is that it’s a political year, and there’s always some misrepresentation, bumper stickers, which seek to describe an industry in far too limited and narrow a way.”