Problem? What problem? Credit is frozen, equities are manic and several big leveraged buy-outs have collapsed in acrimony. Yet money continues to pour into private equity's coffers.

Blackstone has just raised its largest ever real estate fund, worth $11bn. KKR has just closed a $18bn buy-out fund. Some $176bn has been raised globally by the industry so far this year, according to Private Equity Intelligence. In part, this reflects a time lag from the salad days of early 2007. Raising a big fund is typically a formal process that lasts perhaps a year and is often backed by an informal permanent campaign of general schmoozing.