Exploiting a unique opportunity offered by the Italian private equity (PE) market, we examine the hitherto largely unexplored internal rate of return (IRR) of PE investments. Our database covers the entire universe of transactions sponsored by Italian PE investors in Italy up to 2007 and offers...

We analyze the use of derivatives in Italian equity mutual funds from December 2002 to May 2007. We find that the average asset allocation in derivatives increased considerably during this time frame, roughly coinciding with the harmonization of Italian regulation of mutual funds to European...