Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein has predicted that private equity fees could come down in the coming years because investors will no longer accept certain fees that buyout firms charge – in a development that could be transformative for “the whole industry”, he said.

Speaking at the London School of Economics Alternative Investments Conference on January 18, the buyout veteran said that "the biggest disruption for private equity in the future [will be] when investors will only invest money if the manager takes no fee on committed capital and you have lower carry. People who are prepared to work for less than the industry rate will attract the investors."