The decision by SVG Capital, a UK investment trust, to commit the largest-ever sum - €2.8bn (£1.9bn, $3.4bn) - to a private equity fund has highlighted a potential conundrum: that the public stock markets might be the best way to tap into the private equity phenomenon.

The amount represents nearly a third of the €8.5bn targeted by the fund, being raised by UK-based buy-out firm Permira, which itself would be a European fund-raising record.