Many investments, however, do not generate the returns that were initially anticipated.

A major reason is that hidden risks that were not properly assessed from the start manifest themselves at some point in the future.

Tax, environmental, pensions and other types of liabilities fall into this category, but a host of risks have the potential to surprise investors. A management team, for example, may not be as competent as first thought.

As the leading risk and insurance services firm in the world, Marsh is a pioneer in working with private equity firms and managing their specific risks.

We encourage buyers to understand the business risk profile of their target investment, understand historical liabilities and the particular approach to risk management taken by the management team.

We help buyers draw on innovative insurance solutions to transfer risks and make deals more viable.

Private equity firms that utilise such risk and insurance services can also offer a more attractive investment proposition to their target companies, and therefore succeed in what is becoming a more competitive bidding marketplace.

In addition to offering risk and insurance due diligence, we offer innovative transactional risk solutions in areas such as:

• warranty and indemnities
• environmental
• litigation buyout
• tax opinion.

In 2005, we were advisors to over 400 private equity deals in Europe.

We understand the dynamics of deal-making and the related issues of confidentiality and time-pressures.

In a context where deals need to be quickly executed, we can rapidly respond to your needs and draw immediately on our established team of 70 private equity professionals across 14 countries in Europe.