Private Equity has passed through a Golden Age, but will now spend a year or so in “purgatory” before entering an even greater period of expansion, or “Platinum Age,” according to David Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of The Carlyle Group, the Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm with more than billion in assets. In a keynote address at the 14 th annual Wharton Private Equity and Venture Capital Conference titled, “Harnessing the Winds of Change ,” Rubenstein said the credit crisis triggered by subprime lending has brought the growth of private equity investment to an abrupt halt. The industry’s new realities are in sharp contrast to its high-flying period from 2002 to mid-2007, when top private equity firms were doing deals worth billions and generating returns of 30% for their partners. As Rubenstein began his talk, he was interrupted by union members protesting Carlyle’s $6.3 billion acquisition of Manor Care, the nation’s largest nursing home chain.…