Blaming the negative returns from their investments for the decline in deal flow, Jagannadham Thunuguntla, equity head Nexgen Capital, the merchant-banking arm of brokerage firm SMC Global said, "The high volumes of private equity investments in 2006-2007 started to yield negative returns of as much as 67 per cent in 2008." "Because of this many private equity fund managers went on a defensive mood besides foreign funds were under severe cash redemption pressure," he noted.