How do you apply world-class management techniques to private equity investment – a high-stakes business that is inherently uncertain and relationship-driven?

That's precisely the challenge that confronted a Fortune 100, multinational diversified services and manufacturing company when it came to SDG for help. The client's private equity group specializes in providing equity capital to growing companies. It focuses on strategic investments across a number of industries – from communications to retailing to financial services. And it wanted a more disciplined and more effective way to screen, evaluate, and manage its equity investments.

We worked with the client to integrate financial, business, and organizational principles to create a proprietary process for screening, evaluating, and managing investments. The approach measures the value of a decision when results are uncertain, and it drives consistency in decision-making throughout the organization. The approach relies on processes and tools that guide the deal teams to quantify sources of value in a proposed investment. It also focuses them on landmines that may impact the transaction. Ultimately, the deal teams quantify expected risk and return and then monitor performance in accordance with these expectations.

The results? After training over 100 investment professionals and applying our techniques to more than $4 billion of investments, the client is enjoying returns nearly three times the industry average IRR.