Małgorzata Mikita
  Abstract: The financial crisis has had a big influence on every financial institution – amongst them there are private-equity funds (PE funds). The influence of financial crises on PE funds is diversified. It is connected with high diversification of PE funds. The main aim of the article is to show which PE funds are affected by crises in a negative way and which of them – in positive way. The article consists of three parts. The first one discusses the nature and the diversification of PE funds. The influence of financial crises on separate groups of PE funds are shown in the second part. The third part – conclusions – shows the main conclusion: this is that PE funds are one of the few financial institutions which could protect themselves against negative effects of financial crises.