The architect of the code of conduct for private equity firms has warned the industry that it needs to improve the quality of the statistics and disclosures of its performance.

Sir David Walker, writing in the FT, said the industry need to establish a common methodology for reporting its performance as current disclosures were inadequate.

'It would be mistaken to expect comparability or reliability in attribution analyses by individual private equity firms. This is because of the perverse incentive to display performance in the most favourable light,' Walker said.

Walker said that work was now underway to establish a standard methodology, and that research by Ernst & Young would be used to set-up the new metric.

Walker also called on politicians and buy-out firms to back his code, which he described as 'pragmatic and workable'.

Further reading:

Governance shake-up leaves private equity firms reeling

Read more about Walker's code here