Private equity refers to the investment in public and non-public companies or physical assets. Private equity firms raise capital from outside investors, ranging from insurance funds to high-net-worth individuals, to buy and sell these companies and assets.

Essentially, professionals that work at a private equity firm spend most of their time determining whether an investment opportunity is a good one. Therefore, some of their daily tasks include analyzing a company’s market position, historical performance, industry trends, and other due diligence. Overall, private equity professionals work to determine how to improve a company in order to maximize the profit earned through its sale.