Senior figures in the private equity industry clashed Wednesday over whether the level of return investors receive ahead of fund managers should be lowered in light of a difficult economic environment.

Speaking at the SuperReturn International Conference in Berlin today, Jeremy Coller, founder of Coller Capital said the hurdle rate - the point where fund managers begin to receive a portion of profits from funds - was "a potential crisis for the industry". The standard industry hurdle rate stands at 8% and Coller said that as many funds were not likely to reach that point to receive carried interest, it would become difficult to keep younger team members incentivised.