Private equity buyers are paying high prices for insurance brokers and agents, but not everyone understands what the broad term "private equity" means.

The sole purpose in life for a private equity firm is to invest capital, own a business and make a financial return on that investment, according to John Kraska, managing director for Hales & Company in New York.

Mr. Kraska explained the workings of different types of private equity firms when he participated on a panel at the midyear educational conference of the Kansas City, Mo-based National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices, Ltd. last month, along with two other PE players--Gerard Vecchio, a managing director with Century Capital Management in Boston, and Matthew Kelty, a principal for Allied Capital Corp. in Washington.

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