Abstract
The goal of this papare is to analyse the characteristics of the Italian private equity funds' portfolio. This work starts from the consideration that, until now, all the studies concerning private equity have been mainly focused on fundraising dynamics, invesments and divestment activities. For this reason, this paper, based on the Private Equity Monitor - PEM® data, aims to change the traditional point of view, analysing quantitative and qualitative characteristics of a portfolio composed by 460 target companies, in order to identify this asset class future performances.