EIF Working Paper 2020/064: The market sentiment in European Private Equity and Venture Capital: Impact of COVID-19

This paper provides unique insights into the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the European private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) ecosystem. It achieves this purpose in two ways. By exploiting the recent survey wave of EIF’s signature BA/VC/PE MM survey series, which was launched just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe, we are able to gauge how the pandemic changed the sentiment among European fund managers. This qualitative exercise is complemented by the results from a simple time series model that simulates the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the European PE and VC markets. Our analysis provides evidence that the European PE/VC ecosystem faces unprecedented challenges in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. A strong policy response in support of the PE/VC markets is imperative, to which EIF will be an indispensable contributor.

The EIF Working Papers are designed to make available to a wider readership selected topics and studies in relation to EIF’s business. The Working Papers are edited by EIF’s Research & Market Analysis and are typically authored or co-authored by EIF staff or are written in cooperation with EIF.