Ludovic Phalippou

Ludovic Phalippou is a financial economist, academic, author, and researcher. His research covers critical themes including the performance of private equity funds, risk and return estimation, liquidity risk premiums, and regulatory challenges in the industry. 

Ludovic is the Professor of Financial Economics and the Academic Area Head of Finance, Accounting & Economics at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. 

Under his leadership, the school recently created the world's first cinematised educational case study titled "Redeveloping Hope". The study emphasises financial tools and impact investing for MBA and EMBA students, caters to their Gen Z and Millennial preferences for visual learning.

He has authored approximately ten highly cited articles in top academic journals, which have been downloaded nearly 100,000 times and cited over 3000 times. His work has been widely recognised and featured in leading global media outlets such as The Economist, Financial Times, and The New York Times. Ludovic's paper 'How alternative are private markets?' is one of three 2018 recipients of the Jack Treynor Prize, sponsored by the Q-Group. 

Ludovic has also worked with several institutional investors on their private equity investment decisions and benchmarking systems, including:

• Norway sovereign wealth fund
• Pennsylvania Treasury
• Dutch pension funds and with government bodies overseeing public pension fund systems. 

He was also the reviewer for the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, VINNOVA. 

Ludovic holds a Bachelor’s degree from Toulouse School of Economics Master's degree in Mathematical Finance and Economics from the University of Southern California, and a PhD in Finance from INSEAD. 

He also has authored several books, including the bestseller "Private Equity Laid Bare", now in its third edition. He routinely speaks at practitioner conferences and appears in the media internationally

Ludovic also hosts a podcast titled "Private Equity LAID BARE," where he engages in discussions on diverse topics including private debt markets in Africa,  the USA, and the ROW, the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, investor relations, ESG considerations, and venture financing. 

Ludovic Phalippou was named one of "The 40 Most Outstanding Business School Profs Under 40 In The World" by Poets & Quants in 2014. In 2016, Realdeals magazine listed him among the 20 most influential individuals in European private equity.

Ludovic's academic career began at the Toulouse School of Economics, where he earned a Bachelor's in Economic Engineering. He studied further in the United States, where he graduated from the University of Southern California with master's degrees in mathematical finance and economics, eager to widen his horizons. 

Ludovic started his career at the University of Amsterdam as an Assistant Professor and progressed to become an Associate Professor. e In 2011, he took a position as an Associate Professor of Financial Economics at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School. In 2018, he was appointed as an Associate Professor after receiving tenure over the years. Ludovic also became the Academic Area Head of Finance, Accounting & Economics, where he was supervisor of research projects and academic programmes related to his specialisation.

Ludovic Phalippou’s scholarly work has been published in international journals including the Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial Economics.  Ludovic is also the author of the widely acclaimed book "Private Equity Laid Bare,".

Beyond academia, Phalippou engages with a broader audience through his podcast titled "Private Equity LAID BARE." The podcast serves as a platform for insightful discussions on various facets of private equity, ranging from private debt markets in Africa and the USA & ROW to the impact of global events like COVID-19 on investment strategies. Through these discussions, Ludovic offers nuanced perspectives and expert analyses.

Ludovic was named one of "The 40 Most Outstanding Business School Profs Under 40 In The World'' by Poets & Quants in 2014,. In 2016, Real Deals magazine honoured him as one of the 20 most influential individuals in European private equity.

Books and papers:

Ludovic Phalippou has made significant contributions to private equity research across various themes:

Ludovic Phalippou has made substantial contributions to the field of private equity through a series of influential research papers and publications. His work spans various critical themes within the industry, beginning with his 2009 study on "The Performance of Private Equity Funds," which simulated fee structures and highlighted a 6% per annum fee impact, alongside revealing a negative correlation between fund duration and performance. In 2012, Phalippou introduced a groundbreaking Monte Carlo method in "A New Method to Estimate Risk and Return of Non-Traded Assets from Cash Flows," aiming to estimate Betas from cash flow streams. He further explored liquidity risk in LBO cash flows, estimating a 3% annual premium in "Private Equity Performance and Liquidity Risk" (2012). His 2014 publication, "Performance of Buyout Funds Revisited," challenged the suitability of the S&P 500 as a benchmark for PE funds.

Phalippou continued to refine methodologies with "Estimating Private Equity Returns from Limited Partner Cash Flows" (2018), which provided insights into true rates of return for PE fund cash flows. In "Venture Capital Funds: Performance Persistence and Flow-Performance Relation" (2010), he identified performance persistence among underperforming funds and a strong flow-performance relationship among top performers. "Giants at the Gate: Investment Returns and Diseconomies of Scale in PE" (2015) analysed LBO investment returns across various metrics, while "On Secondary Buyouts" (2016) discussed the performance dynamics of secondary buyouts.

Phalippou's exploration of LP investment behaviours based on capital size in "The Importance of Size in PE: Evidence from LP Surveys" (2017) shed light on investment strategies within the industry. He also delved into fee structures in "Private Equity Portfolio Company Fees" (2018), documenting ex-post discretionary fees charged by fund managers. Throughout his career, he has critically examined the conflicts of interest in PE fund manager fees in "Beware When Venturing into Private Equity" (2009) and the hazards of using IRR as a performance metric in "The Hazards of Using IRR to Measure PE Performance" (2008). His critiques extended to institutional practices, as seen in "Yale’s Endowment Returns: GIPS Interpretation Difficulties" (2013) and regulatory challenges discussed in "A New Approach to Regulating Private Equity" (2012).

Phalippou's contributions also include proposing modifications to align GP and LP interests better in "Aligning Financial Interests in Private Equity" (2020) and questioning the comparative advantages of PE ownership in "Thirty Years After Jensen’s Prediction: Is PE a Superior Form of Ownership?" (2020). He also examined the financial implications of PE returns in "An Inconvenient Fact: PE Returns & the Billionaire Factory" (2020) and critiqued risk-based models for asset pricing in "Can Recent Risk-Based Explanations Explain the Value Premium?" (2007) and explored the presence of the value premium in stocks in "Where is the Value Premium?" (2008). "Acquiring Acquirers: Drivers of Acquirer’s Returns" (2015) analysed factors influencing acquirer returns in corporate takeovers, showcasing Phalippou's broad impact on understanding and reshaping practices within the private equity industry.

Ludovic envisions a future where the complexities of private equity are transparent and well-understood, fostering informed decision-making among investors and policymakers alike. His vision encompasses rigorous academic research that challenges conventional wisdom, aiming to improve industry practices and regulatory frameworks. By demystifying financial dynamics through publications, podcasts, and academic leadership, Ludovic strives to elevate the discourse on risk management, governance, and performance evaluation within private equity.