Why do some projects have higher internal rates of return?

IRRs are not all created equal—and the differences between projects or funds can be material for oil and gas companies, private equity investors, or even investment funds themselves who use the metric as a shorthand benchmark for comparing diverse projects. In this podcast, McKinsey’s Werner Rehm discusses variations in IRR with Marc Goedhart and Chip Hughes. Marc is a Senior Expert in McKinsey’s Amsterdam office and co-author of the recent article, “A better way to understand Internal Rate of Return.” Chip is a consultant in McKinsey’s New York office, where Werner is an Equity Partner.