Hands on PE

TERRA UNFIRMA: Guy Hands gave a somber view of the private-equity landscape today at a conference in Berlin, saying volumes probably won't pick up much this year because price expectations remain high and because of increasing volatility in equity markets. Though Hands declined to comment on the problems at EMI, he may have been alluding to them when he said, "If ever there was a time when past performance is not going to be an indicator of future performance, now is that time." (2/10a)