Less than a year after Sir David Walker’s announced recommendations for greater transparency in the private equity industry, five large buyout firms have posted inaugural annual reports. The latest of these is Permira, which last week published a 78-page report into its activity in 2007.

The level of openness differs from firm to firm and with 25 sets of results still to come from those who agreed to comply with the Walker guidelines, including Cinven and Apax, these early reports are likely to set the benchmark on disclosure and transparency.