Try as they might to put a positive spin on things, 2002 was another grim year for private equity practitioners, with a moribund equity market keeping the lid on new listings, and new funds for investment slowing to a trickle.

The only bright spot has been the emergence of black economic empowerment as a force for new private equity deals.

“We always say the private equity market industry has a beta of two,” says Rowan Williams, director at private equity firm i capital, citing the investment manager`s tool for measuring the correlation of a company`s share price with the general equity market. “When markets are booming, we do extremely well, but when they are down, we suffer more than most.”