Shave and a haircut

Do bank private equity portfolios need a haircut? Declines in public equity values, and Goldman Sachs’s purchase of ABN Amro’s buyout portfolio at a 15% discount to its net asset value, raise the question. But investors shouldn’t fret quite yet - the valuations have more wiggle room. At first blush, it is easy to see why investors would be worried. After all, banks have already written down the value of the buyout loans they hold. An index of these is trading at 88 cents on the dollar, down fro...