Have the Masters of the Universe been tamed? It was not too long ago that the private equity industry was king of all it surveyed. No deal was too big to swallow, no fund too large to raise, and no return was (seemingly) out of their reach.

A new and more chastened private equity industry has emerged from the crisis, one which has been forced to go cap in hand - and often with its tail between its legs - to the people it used to take for granted: investors.