When Bain Capital co-founder Mitt Romney ran for the presidency of the US last year, the private equity industry was widely accused of being an asset class that cut jobs. In response, Romney said that he had been responsible for creating thousands of jobs at Bain – an assertion which was then debated for months.

Clearing up this debate has never been easy. The private equity industry has long been keen to demonstrate its job-creation record but some of the statistics have been unconvincing. In late 2008, the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association commissioned a report by Ernst & Young, which found that, removing the effect of acquisitions and disposals, the UK's largest private equity-backed companies had increased headcount by 3%.