Performance, income, tax, capital, and the mechanics of private market investing.
Adding alternatives to a portfolio is straightforward. Building a well-constructed alternative portfolio — with intentional diversification, realistic liquidity planning, and appropriate sizing — is considerably harder. Here's how experienced investors think about it.
Every private market investment has a capital stack — a hierarchy that determines who gets paid first, who takes the most risk, and who has the highest return potential. Understanding where you sit in that stack is fundamental to evaluating any deal.
The preferred return is one of the most cited terms in private fund investing. It is also one of the most misunderstood. Here's what it actually means, how the waterfall works after it's met, and the scenarios where a pref provides less protection than investors expect.
The year you make a private market investment has an outsized impact on returns that most investors underestimate. Here's what vintage year means, why it matters, and how to diversify across market cycles intentionally rather than accidentally.