KKR sitting on $11bn of dry powder

George Roberts, left, and Henry Kravis have a combined $1.65 billion stake in KKR

Private equity giant KKR has $11bn of ‘dry powder’ or uninvested capital, the firm revealed at its first investor day since the firm went public in July.

KKR also said it is keen to broaden its LP base, which currently includes just 350 LPs. Listed rival Blackstone has some 1300, according to Reuters.

The firm, which is still run by founders Henry Kravis, and George Roberts, both born in 1944, downplayed worries about the succession.

“I know a lot of investors ask: ‘What about future leadership? What about succession?’” said Kravis. “I’m not sure why, but they do so.”

Co-founder Jerome Kohlberg, who is twenty years older, resigned from KKR in 1987. Kravis and Roberts, who are cousins, emphasised they intend to continue running the firm for some time yet.

But they said they had a “deep bench” of potential successors. Fifteen different executives spoke at the investor day.

KKR also revealed that its mammoth $18bn fund, raised in 2006, had so far returned a meagre 4.3 per cent, though it beat the S&P 500, which is in the red by 2.3 per cent over the same period.

Recent KKR-backed companies that have gone to IPO include media research agency Nielsen and hospital chain HCA, which raised $3.8bn in the largest private equity backed IPO in US history.

KKR's 29-Year-Old Treasurer And Head Of IR Is Leaving To Join A $22 Billion Fund Of Funds

(Bloomberg) KKR's head of investor relations, Jonathan Levin, is leaving the private equity giant, Bloomberg reports.

Levin, who is also the company's treasurer, has been with KKR less than two years. Now he's jumping ship to the hedge fund world.

His new job is in his native Chicago, with $22 billion fund of funds Grosvenor Capital Management. He'll be in charge of business development, strategy, and new products at the firm.

According to Bloomberg, he'll depart this quarter.

Meanwhile, at KKR, his role, which involves both managing the balance sheet and communicating with investors -- will reportedly be split between two people. At KKR, Levin "worked closely with Scott Nuttall, head of global capital, and William Janetschek, KKR’s chief financial officer."