Private markets explainers
61 short films on the terms of private markets, with the words written out. What a term means and why it matters to investors.
Private equity
Why good funds look bad in year two17 seconds
10 business days to wire $2M: the capital call16 seconds
Both doubled your money. One was far better.20 seconds
You can't spend TVPI24 seconds
Same fund, different deal: the side letter21 seconds
The manager sold the company. To itself.25 seconds
Dry powder isn't sitting in a bank20 seconds
An 8% preferred return is not a guarantee22 seconds
Took $10M, earned $4M: the clawback41 seconds
How a fund borrows against what it owns: the NAV loan25 seconds
What 2 and 20 can cost on $100M22 seconds
One person quits and the fund can stop buying24 seconds
Same profit. One manager gets paid years earlier.26 seconds
When the manager has to give money back22 seconds
Why a fund's birth year changes how good its returns look30 seconds
Opposite sides of the world, the exact same deals30 seconds
Buy a company, then hand it the loan46 seconds
A manager's cut usually waits behind the investors47 seconds
Investors can fire the manager and never say why34 seconds
A fund can buy a company before investors send a dollar52 seconds
One continent. Many doors. How funds get sold in Europe.39 seconds
A company sells one wing. Then the wires get cut.35 seconds
Six letters can set the price of a company35 seconds
One deal, split across an ocean: the parallel fund38 seconds
The same valuation can mean two different deals32 seconds
Asking for your money back doesn't mean you get it32 seconds
The stretch where the manager gets every dollar36 seconds
90 cents on the dollar. 90 cents of what?27 seconds
One loan doing the job of two: the unitranche22 seconds
The same fund, and the fee falls by half26 seconds
A fund can start investing before it finishes raising25 seconds
A manager can bill the companies it owns26 seconds
Investors offered $4B. The fund couldn't take it.21 seconds
The same deal, with no carry23 seconds
Part of the price only shows up later26 seconds
A company borrows money just to pay its owner26 seconds
A fund can invest more than it raised26 seconds
A fund owes you money. It sends you this instead.22 seconds
The manager's own money in the fund18 seconds
How a listed company disappears from the market25 seconds
Private credit
Venture capital
Real estate
Infrastructure
Hedge funds
Everyone asked for their money back. The fund shut the door.42 seconds
Why winning back a loss can earn a hedge fund manager no bonus41 seconds
Bet against a stock, and you can be forced to buy it35 seconds
Lose half. Now you need to double it.31 seconds
Your money can leave. Part of it stays behind.18 seconds
Secondaries
Simple examples with round numbers, not advice. Terms vary by fund. Something wrong? Tell us.