Every year, Pepperdine University conducts an annual survey of expected rates of return with respect to private companies. A BVWire poll found that 40% of respondents use the survey results for estimating small private-company cost of capital. This year’s survey is now open, and input is sought from anyone involved in the funding of private businesses, including funding providers, recipients, investors, intermediaries, and advisors. The information you provide is confidential. The direct link to the survey is pepperdine.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bycpTq6uVqgg170?region=34582&spl=NB1.

The survey results are used to produce annual Private Capital Markets Report (reports from prior years are available if you click here). The price for the annual report is normally $125, but it’s free if you fill out the survey—plus you’ll get it a week early.

Extra: Using the Pepperdine report produces very similar results for cost of equity as you get from other sources, including Kroll’s Navigator and BVR’s Cost of Capital Professional, according to an article in the February 2023 issue of Business Valuation Update, “COE Estimates From Leading Data Sets Are All ‘Very Close.’”