For the past year, silver linings have been in short supply. Even as financial markets claw their way back up, the wealth lost has been neither forgotten nor completely recovered. In the private equity sector, the good news is that, frankly, the situation could have been worse. Though returns plunged, the asset class still outperformed the public equity markets.

A new analysis from alternative investment research firm Preqin puts the private equity industry's return at -30 percent for the 12 months ending March 31, 2009, a period that encompasses the bulk of the lows without the benefit of the upswing that followed. For the same year-long period, the S&P 500's return was -38.1 percent, with the MSCI Europe's at -49.9 percent and the MSCI Emerging Markets' return at -47.1 percent.

The next time you take a bite of a Carvel ice-cream cake, you'd better make sure you earned it. The company that owns it, Roark Capital Group, is an Atlanta-based private equity fund named for the virtuously selfish architect concocted by writer and philosopher -- and master of neither writing nor philosophy -- Ayn Rand, the founder of Objectivism.

A tribute to the author in more than just name, Roark has spent most of the financial crisis on the sidelines. Now it has $750 million to put into the private equity market – nearly half of the $1.55 billion it has under management.

Blackstone's (BX) CEO Steve Schwarzman told his investors in a letter that his private equity firm may take as many as eight of its firms public. According to the Financial Times, the letter said, "We see the world changing once again. At least for private equity, the worst is behind the industry." Blackstone is also planning to sell up to five firms in its private equity portfolio.

The news may mark the chance for some of Blackstone's investors to get returns on locked up assets, but the implications go much further. Taking as many as eight companies public is a process that could take months if not several quarters. What Blackstone is saying, without making it blatant, is that it believes that the current stock market rally has a good opportunity of being sustained. A sharp correction would make any IPO difficult and would ruin Blackstone's' plans.

For the private equity industry, 2009 is looking a lot like 2003. After yet another tough quarter, the amount of new funds raised plummeted, reaching levels not seen in six years, according to documents London-based private equity research firm Preqin has provided to DailyFinance. Fewer funds are closing, and many of those that are closing are doing so short of their initial targets. There are indicators, however, that the situation could turn around by the end of 2009 or early in 2010.

Private equity funds raised only $38 billion in the third quarter of 2009. This is the lowest worldwide total since the fourth quarter of 2003. From the second quarter of 2008's level of $84 billion, this is a decline of 45 percent, and it is a mere 18 percent of the record $208 billion that global private equity funds raised in the second quarter of 2007. "Historical data shows that the summer months of Q3 often represent a relatively slow quarter for fundraising in any given year," says Tim Friedman, Preqin's head of communications. "For the rate of fundraising to drop by nearly 70 percent over the course of a year is a dramatic fall," he continues, "and demonstrates just how challenging it has become to raise new funds in the current climate."

For a company named after a mythical, multi-headed hound, Cerberus is definitely in the dog house with its investors. The huge private equity firm is being deserted by many of its key clients, continuing a trend of fund flight that has intensified in the last year. Several media outlets reported that 71 percent of the investors in the firm's two large funds want their capital returned. The money these clients have with Cerberus totals $5.5 billion, putting the New York-based investment manager in a tough position.

With its insurance fund being drained rapidly by failed banks, the FDIC will disclose today how much is left in the fund and update the number of banks on its trouble list. It will also announce how it plans to shore up the fund both short-term and long-term.

As of March 31, the fund was down to $13 billion it's lowest point since the S&L crisis in 1992 when the fund dropped to $178 million and the FDIC had to borrow $15 billion from the U.S. treasury and repay it with interest.

Larger transactions and increased investor confidence pushed clean technology ("cleantech") venture capital investments higher in the second quarter of 2009. Investments in companies dealing with energy efficiency and solar power led the overall market, which surged 73 percent quarter-over-quarter. A study by Ernst & Young, with data from Dow Jones VentureSource, suggests a sharp up-tick in cleantech venture capital.

Venture capital investment in cleantech companies hit $572 million last quarter. Forty-eight financing rounds were completed, representing a 100 percent increase in quarter-over-quarter transaction count. Compared to the second quarter of 2008, which was the second best cleantech quarter for venture capital investment, capital put to work fell 59 percent, with the number of transactions down 16 percent.

It's been said that it makes sense to start a business when times are tough. The current spate of layoffs has led many businesses to rely on temps, contractors and other outside service providers, actually leading to a market opportunity for entrepreneurs. If they can carve out a piece of the market now and hang tough until conditions improve, they'll be poised for accelerated growth and profitability when economic conditions improve.

It seems a lot of people are thinking this way, according to a recent study by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., which puts the percentage of job-hunters creating their own opportunities as entrepreneurs at 8.7 percent in the second quarter of 2009.

Stepping up its scrutiny of offshore investing, the IRS demanded that hedge-fund and private-equity investors disclose hundreds of billions of dollars they have invested offshore. This is part of a crack down on questionable use of offshore tax havens, which started with a very public case filed against UBS.

UBS agreed to pay $780 million to settle accusations that it had defrauded the IRS by allowing wealthy Americans to hide billions of dollars using secret offshore bank accounts.

In a conference call on June 12, industry lawyers and accountants were told that investors in offshore hedge-fund and private-equity funds must file an FBAR (Report of Foreign and Financial Account) by June 30. Prior to this time many of these offshore investors were advised by tax attorneys that they didn't have to file an FBAR. Some offshore investments aren't taxable, but others are.

Despite tumultuous global financial market conditions, private equity investments in the clean technology ("cleantech") space showed resilience last year. Investors are reconsidering their overall exposures to private equity -- and this includes cleantech -- but they are still operating in the space and remain open to the right opportunities, according to a new report by Private Equity Intelligence, Ltd. (Preqin).

Since 2003, the story in the cleantech sector of the private equity space has been one of aggressive growth. From only seven funds involved in cleantech investments in 2003, the number swelled to 30 in 2004 and nearly quadrupled -- to 117 -- by 2008. The number of strictly cleantech funds grew aggressively, as well, from nine in 2004 to 41 in 2007. The pure-plays fell slightly to 39 last year, suggesting that the market was holding steady.