A secondary price is usually quoted as a percentage of the fund's last reported value, or NAV. The buyer usually also takes on any money still owed to the fund.
What the film says
In secondaries, a stake sells at ninety cents on the dollar. Ninety cents of what? Three. Two. One. The fund's last reported value, called NAV. So a stake marked at a hundred million sells for ninety. That gap is the discount, ten percent. The seller gets cash now, instead of waiting years. The buyer gets the stake, plus any money still owed to the fund. So why do investors care? That reported value is from an earlier date. A discount is only as good as the number it's measured against.
A simple example with round numbers, not advice. Terms vary by fund.
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