On March 20th, Ken Mehlman met with Buyouts at the offices of PEGCC founding member Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, where Mehlman is the global head of public affairs.  The group discussed private equity, Dodd-Frank, and Ken Mehlman’s priorities for his first year as chairman of the PEGCC.

Mehlman’s first statements dealt with his thanks for the work that the PEGCC president and CEO Steve Judge has done to engage policy makers.

“First of all I would say that thanks to the great work of Steve Judge (PEGCC president and CEO) and the team at the PEGCC the industry has done a very good job of engaging in dialog with policy makers about how we encourage more economic growth and also about how we make sure growth is sustainable from a financial system perspective.” He then went on to discuss his hope that the PEGCC can continue to be a part of that dialog as well as part of the solution on how to have better retirement growth and security for Americans throughout the country.

Buyouts also questioned Mehlman on the effort the PEGCC is making to ensure that the public knows that private equity is a force for economic good.  Mehlman explained this effort needs to be a two-way dialog where private equity companies listen as much as they persuade, but that the statistics show that private equity investment has done quite a bit of good for the economy.

“Our hope is to highlight companies that have been enhanced by our investment and by our hard work,” Ken Mehlman said.  “And also to point to millions of retirees who today have more security and enjoy a better time in their golden years because their pension fund decided to participate in private equity.”

Mehlman also mentioned that the PEGCC is watching Dodd-Frank, because “while Dodd-Frank wasn’t aimed at the private equity and growth capital industries there will be very important rules and regulations that impact directly our ability to operate, and to create value.”

To read the the full piece on PEGCC.org click here.