Course Detail (Course Description By Faculty)

What You Learn

Explore the evolution of private markets and the forces shaping today’s industry — from venture capital in China and unicorns to GP-stake sales and SPACs.
Gain a practical understanding of fund structures, key terms, and transaction design, and learn how to interpret performance metrics, secondary deals, and access strategies.
You’ll engage with real-world term sheets, due diligence reports, and financing examples to see how investment decisions are made in practice.

How You Learn

This course combines academic rigor with practical efficiency.
You’ll complete focused readings, short cases, and analytical exercises before each session.
In-class presentations help you connect the dots and build a clear conceptual framework.
Expect 6-7 hours of preparation per week in addition to class attendance.

Where It Matters

Relevant for careers in asset management, private equity, infrastructure, real estate, private debt, consulting, and private banking.
You’ll learn to think like an investor — understanding how capital providers evaluate, structure, and fund opportunities.
The skills you gain will enhance your professional confidence and provide an edge in interviews for investment-related roles.

Who Should Take This Course

There are no formal prerequisites, but students who have taken private equity–focused classes or have prior internship or industry experience will find it easier to navigate and absorb the substantial volume of material.
The course is designed for those with a serious interest in private markets and a willingness to engage consistently throughout the quarter.

Course Format & Assessment

This is a lecture-based course supported by ongoing analytical work.
Assessment is based on class participation, short analytical assignments, two group projects, weekly graded quizzes, and a final exam.
Continuous engagement is essential — this is not a class where students can “coast” early and catch up just before midterms or finals. Steady effort throughout the term is key to success.

Instructor Perspective

Private markets have evolved from niche strategies into a core pillar of global capital formation.
This course helps you understand how institutional investors think, how funds are structured, and how value is created — knowledge that remains relevant across economic cycles.
Students also gain insight into the forces shaping the industry, including how key players are driving disintermediation within the financial sector.
Exposure to some of the most current industry practices and playbooks has helped past students secure internships and full-time roles in leading private markets firms.

*** You an find additional information on the  course webpage  which will be available from Nov. 26 onwards***

Who can attend?

• Open to Booth graduate students, qualified undergraduates (2nd year+), Harris School students, and approved Master's students from other programs.
Attendance at the first class is mandatory for course enrollment. This also applies to wait-listed students or non-Booth students that only receive confirmation in week 2.
• No auditors allowed; the course cannot be taken pass/fail.
• Section Switching: Allowed until the end of week 2. Notify instructor or TA to ensure proper recording of attendance and quiz scores.

While the course covers a broad range of topics, it is taught at a professional level, reflecting the competitive nature of landing jobs in the private markets industry. This class is demanding and requires a high level of commitment and proficiency. Students who have previously worked in the financial industry or have taken courses related to private equity or investment have found the most benefit from this class. However, I go at great length to make the subject accessible to those who are not familiar with Private Markets but naturally for somebody who is not familiar with the subject the sheer volume of information is more daunting and may require extra time to digest.  If you are looking for an easy-going high-level overview, you will find the detailed content of this course to be extremely challenging.

This course is designed to be complementary to Entrepreneurial Finance classes such as Steven Kaplan's Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity (34101) Autumn course. But there is no prerequisite for attending my course.  Cannot take BUSN 34219 if BUSN 34209 taken previously:  strict.

Chapters 1-4 (without 4.4 Limited Partnerships), Chapter 5 (without Chapter 5.4 Real Estate) and Chapters 6.5-6.9. and 10.5-10.6

Hepp, S. (2023). Private Markets Investing, unpublished manuscript, Chapter 11.1

!! The assigned reading prior to class start is about 240 pages, so please make sure you get the book early to be up to speed in Week 1. This assignment needs to be done even if you have no access to canvas prior to week 1.

Access to Canvas: In order to do your homework assignments you need to have access to canvas before Week 1. If you do not have access you must contact the TAs as you will be required to do weekly quizzes weekly (exams) the first of which will be due prior to class in Week 2 (see calendar in the Syllabus for deadlines).

This course cannot be taken as a pass/fail.

EARLY FINAL GRADES for joint-degree/non-booth graduating students

Students who require Early Final Grades can enroll, but if you do, you need to be aware that you may have to take the final (online quiz) exam earlier than the rest of the class during week 10, to meet the submission deadline for early final grades.