If you're looking to buy into an upswing post-recession, it doesn't look like the private equity market will be on your list. Valuations didn't fall as much as you might think, meaning that the bargains you usually find during a downturn just aren't showing up this time.

In the leveraged buyout market, prices were around 25% higher, on average, than they were in 2001, when the dotcom economy fell apart, according to Standard & Poor's Leveraged Commentary & Data. And transactions closed in the past three months have hit heir highest levels since the private equity market peaked in 2007.

Says Christopher O'Brien, president for U.S. and Europe of Investcorp Bank BSC, another "golden era" isn't coming. He tells Bloomberg News, "There's a lot of pressure to put investors' money to work now, and valuations are still high. It's a seller's market."

Mega-buyout funds are turning in their worst returns over one-, three- and five-year periods. Large buyout funds haven't performed well either, with small buyout funds faring best, according to alternative investment research firm Preqin. With enough time having passed from the financial market mayhem of the third quarter of 2008, it's now possible to gain some perspective and measure the results.

Mega-buyout funds' returns were negative over the past year, down 31.4%. Over the last three years, returns were still negative at 3.1%. But over the last five years, mega-buyout funds returns a solid 23.9%.

If your job last year was to raise private equity capital, you couldn't have been all that happy. Capital raising hit its lowest level since 2003, according to Dow Jones LP Source by way of VentureBeat, falling to $95.8 billion for 331 funds. In 2008, $300 billion had been raised across 508 funds, translating to a 68% year-over-year decline. Nobody was spared the struggle to raise funds, except secondary funds, which reported a 50% surge in fund raising.

The buyout fund, among the largest sectors in the private equity business, saw the capital raised fall 72.5%, from $195.5 billion in 2008 to a mere $53.7 billion in 2009. The largest buyout funds suffered most: only six funds with more than $6 billion under management raised an aggregate $14 billion. The year before, it took only 12 funds of this size to pull in a combined $75.2 billion in fresh capital.

In the buyout corner of the private equity business, "dry powder" continued to grow in 2009. Industry slang for capital available for investment, this measure points to how much activity private equity funds are capable of completing.

From December 2004 through December 2008, according to data from alternative investment research firm Preqin, the amount of funds on the sidelines surged from $178 billion to $501 billion for the buyout sector, nearly tripling. This year, buyout dry powder only increased by $3 billion, to $504.28 billion. While this may feel like little more than a rounding error, it suggests stability in the sector after what has been a trying climate for financial services business of all types.

The private equity market was hit hard by the financial crisis last year, but it's already on the road to recovery, according to a new report by Preqin (pdf).

From the first quarter to the second, this year, increasing returns and valuations have given investors a reason to hope, even though the industry's average return is down 24.1% for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2009. The negative return still outpaced the S&P 500, MSCI Europe and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes, the alternative investment research firm says, which returned -26.2%, -34.1% and -27.8%, respectively -- and the 12-month average improved from -30% for the year-long period ending March 31, 2009.

The amount of investable assets available to venture capital funds has basically been a growth story since 2003. Dry powder slipped 7% in 2004 and 10% in 2008, but increased in every other year over this period.

Now, the dry powder number sits at $155 billion, according to alternative investment research firm Preqin, just off its December 2007 peak of $160 billion. The big number, however, masks a wide range of market situations for venture capital funds. Dry powder levels vary by strategy and region. To get a sense of what's going on behind the scenes, check out the five facts below about venture capital dry powder.

Private equity returns are down 27.6% year-over-year for the 12-month period ending July 30, 2009, according to a Preqin report received by BloggingStocks. The London-based research house notes, however, that the global private equity industry's dry powder (i.e., uncommitted assets) continues to exceed $1 trillion, suggesting that there is still plenty of capital waiting for a rainy day.

Returns for the past 12 months reflect all the nastiness we've seen and lived -- bailouts, company collapses, equity and credit market mayhem and unemployment rates dangerously close to double-digits. But, the money is still coming in. Preqin puts the rate by which contributions outpaced distributions at 235% for buyout funds in 2008. This category raised $148 billion while distributing only $63 billion, making last year the most imbalanced for these two measures in history.

Private equity investors are using current financial market constraints on liquidity to negotiate favorable deals, as private equity general partners have watched the values of their portfolios fall profoundly. Efforts to attract additional investment haven't been easy, as potential limited partners are reluctant to make long commitments in an uncertain marketplace. This has given limited partners a stronger position from which to negotiate both fees and terms and conditions.

Limited partners are getting a leg up on the private equity funds in which they invest, signaling a change from the historical trend in which funds could push for aggressive compensation based on the returns they provide. In a poll conducted by Preqin, 43% of investors noted a power shift from fund to limited partner, with only 2% seeing a shift toward the general partner.

Buyout funds managed by private equity giants Apollo Management LP and Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) are among a growing number of limited partnerships that have experienced sharp declines in value, reports the Wall Street Journal, which highlights the economy's impact on such funds, as well as the influence of mark-to-market accounting.

Apollo and Blackstone recently disclosed to investors the values of their last buyout funds at year-end. Apollo Investment Fund VI LP, a $10.1 billion investment vehicle that closed in 2005, was held at 34% below cost. Perhaps the most notable Fund VI deal is Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which has struggled with its debt covenants. Apollo and TPG Capital LP acquired Harrah's in January 2008 for $27.8 billion.