We host several annual events at Saïd Business School, including the European Private Equity Research Consortium Symposium, the Risk Management Symposium, and the Oxford Sustainable Private Markets Conference.
Events
Private Equity Research Consortium
We hosted the Inaugural European Private Equity Research Consortium (PERC) Symposium in May 2024.
It was the fourth European iteration of the annual PERC US conference, which has become the pre-eminent conference on private equity, and will bring together leading academics and practitioners for discourse and discussion on innovative topics in the field of private equity and private credit.
Private Equity Research Consortium (PERC) is a group of scholars and industry professionals that conducts and promotes research on private equity. The core mission is to develop better understanding of how private capital investments affect both financial results and broader economic outcomes.
The fifth European iteration will be held at Oxford Saïd on 22-23 May 2025. This 2025 Spring Symposium will feature academic research presentations, panel discussions, and interactive sessions on methodologies, investment incentives, and social impact in private markets.
Oxford Sustainable Private Markets Conference
The Oxford Sustainable Private Markets Conference returns for its fourth edition on 15 September 2025. This conference serves as a vital platform for advancing academic research and fostering dialogue between scholars, industry participants, and policymakers.
The objective of the conference is to advance academic research with a view to supporting change by industry participants as well as policy makers. The overarching goal is reimagining private markets to achieve fair return on invested capital, but also serve the greater public interest as well as the stakeholders of private markets by looking beyond the portfolio companies and examining the net effect and impact on larger public interest considerations.
The event provides a unique opportunity to bring multi-disciplinary experts, academics and practitioners together to exchange their experience and their research in building tomorrow’s financial markets.
The conference will involve over 120 participants, including policy makers, investors and representatives of corporations, academics and researchers, foundations, and more.
Previous event programmes:
Risk Management Symposium
The Private Equity Institute hosted the ninth Risk Management Symposium organised by Tim Jenkinson, Private Equity Institute, University of Oxford and John Renkema, APG. The event was held at Saïd Business School on 21-22 November 2024. The next Symposium will take place on 27-28 November 2025 at Saïd Business School.
Private equity’s illiquid nature means it is often perceived as one of the riskiest asset classes. However, it is precisely the associated risk premium that attracts institutional investors to private equity. Risk management in this area is still predominantly associated with risk avoidance, whereas harvesting the illiquidity risk premium requires specific management techniques for seeking risks in order to achieve an attractive risk/return relationship for private equity portfolios. The symposium aimed to advance private equity portfolio management practices and build a community of private equity practitioners and academics with a view to extending both the theoretical understanding and practical management of the issues raised.
A unique opportunity for major industry stakeholders and academics to discuss the current state of risk management in private equity, and plans for the future.
Previous event programmes:
Private Equity Forum
We introduced the annual Private Equity Forum in 2006 to bring together academics and investors to discuss challenges and opportunities facing the private equity sector.
The Forum took place on Friday 6 May 2022. The afternoon comprised of five sessions covering different topics within private equity, with speakers taking questions from the floor. An overview of the research in private equity being undertaken at Oxford was also presented.
A drinks reception followed the forum where there was an opportunity to network with speakers, industry experts, alumni and students.
Previous event programmes: