Unlocking Insights: Building a Proprietary PE Dataset from GP Reports
Advisor: Nicolas Pardon, MSc. & Julius Maisch, MSc.
Type: Master's Thesis
Start: Rolling (from June 2025)
Overview
Our chair is engaged in a long-term effort to build one of Europe’s most detailed proprietary datasets on private markets. This initiative involves transforming unstructured transaction materials into structured, analysis-ready data. The project is conducted in collaboration with a data-driven alternative asset management firm and offers students a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of academic research and real-world investment practice.
As part of this initiative, we invite highly motivated Master’s students to participate in the data structuring process and subsequently write their thesis using the resulting dataset to explore an empirical question related to private markets.
Structure & Timeline
- Data Phase: ~2 months full-time + ~2 months part-time involvement in structured data extraction and validation
- Thesis Phase: ~2 months of full-time thesis writing on an approved topic using the structured data
This dual-phase structure ensures students gain hands-on experience with deal-level information and deep insight into private equity and related investment strategies.
Thesis Topics
Students will define their research question in consultation with the advisors. Possible directions include (but are not limited to):
- Deal structuring and value creation
- Sponsor characteristics and investment outcomes
- Distress and turnaround investing
- Cross-sectional determinants of fund performance
Requirements
- Demonstrated interest in private equity, venture capital, or private debt
- Attention to detail and structured working style
- Strong Excel skills; working knowledge of Python or Stata preferred
- Prior coursework in empirical finance, econometrics, or data analysis
Supervision & Support
- Comprehensive onboarding to the internal data structuring system
- Regular feedback sessions on data work and thesis progression
- Methodological support for empirical design and execution
- Exposure to academic and applied perspectives on private markets
Contact & Application
If you are interested in writing your thesis on this topic, please indicate this in your application. Please note that this topic can be expanded and/or taken in other directions depending on the student's own interests and ideas.