Private equity managers going into emerging markets in search of higher returns or in hopes of avoiding the global credit crunch won't escape the impact of a U.S. recession, the president of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association, or EMPEA, said Thursday. “At a minimum, a U.S. recession will negatively impact growth prospects for some, if not many of the companies in a fund manager's portfolio,” Sarah E. Alexander said at an EMPEA conference in New York. But investors who got burned in emerging markets during the early 1990s recession should take comfort in the “fundamental shifts” and growth that emerging market economies have experienced. “Let me convince you that a crash is highly unlikely,” she said. Many private equity managers have a lot riding on these fundamental changes. Last year, the private equity industry raised more than $59 billion for investments in emerging markets, a record and nearly double the amount raised in 2006, according to EMPEA data. […]