“You know, you Europeans could learn a lot from the US.” During the late 1990s, players in the European private equity industry probably heard this self-satisfied piece of advice more than most. So they can be forgiven for feeling a bit of schadenfreude at the current wreckage in the US private equity market.

But perhaps the advice would be more palatable if thought of in its fullest sense. European private equity can learn from the US, but from its mistakes as well as its successes.