Topic hub
Private markets
Private capital is equity and debt financing provided outside public securities markets, together with the funds and other vehicles that raise and invest it. This hub is the entry point to the reference. It defines the term, separates it from the wider category of alternative assets, and lists the asset classes, participants and market-wide terms that the other hubs build on.
Each private-market asset class has its own hub: Private equity, Venture capital, Private credit, Real estate, Infrastructure and Secondaries. Topics that cut across asset classes are organised by subject: Fund structures, Fund terms and economics, Fundraising, Performance and benchmarking, Valuation, Portfolio construction, Due diligence and Legal, regulatory and tax. Investors are covered in Institutional investors and Family offices; sourcing and verification terms are in Data and evidence.
Hedge funds are alternative assets but not private-market assets, so they have a separate hub. Public equity, fixed income, commodities and digital assets are outside this reference and appear only where they are compared with private holdings.
Reference index
Definition:
Private Capital (Private Markets) — Private capital is equity and debt financing provided to companies and real assets outside public securities markets, and the vehicles that raise and invest it, across private equity, venture capital, private credit, real estate, infrastructure and natural resources.
Asset classes
5 concepts- Private Equity (PE)
Private equity (PE) is the asset class of equity and equity-like investments in unlisted companies, or companies being taken private, usually made through closed-end funds run by a general partner and realised through a sale or listing.
- Venture Capital (VC)
Venture capital (VC) is equity financing for young, high-growth private companies, usually provided through closed-end funds in exchange for minority stakes, with fund returns driven by a small number of very large exits.
- Private Credit
Private credit is debt financing provided by non-bank lenders, such as private funds, business development companies and insurers, through loans or debt instruments that are privately negotiated and not issued or traded in public markets.
- Infrastructure Investing
Infrastructure investing is owning or lending to long-lived physical assets and networks that deliver essential services, such as transport, energy, water, communications and social facilities, whose revenue is usually set by regulation, long-term contracts or government concessions.
- Secondaries
Alternative assets
2 concepts- Alternative Investments (Alternative Assets)
Alternative investments are assets and strategies outside the traditional sleeves of listed equities, investment-grade bonds and cash, most commonly private equity, venture capital, private credit, real estate, infrastructure, natural resources and hedge funds.
- Hedge Fund
A hedge fund is a pooled investment vehicle, typically private and open-ended, whose manager pursues flexible trading strategies using short selling, leverage and derivatives, charges a management fee and a performance fee, and offers periodic, restricted liquidity.
Market participants
5 conceptsMarket-wide terms
4 concepts- Assets Under Management
- Dry Powder
- J-Curve
The J-curve is the typical pattern in which a closed-end private fund's cumulative net cash flows and interim returns are negative in its early years and turn positive as investments mature and are realised.
- Vintage Year
A fund's vintage year is the year used to group it with comparable funds for benchmarking and portfolio planning, usually the year of its first capital call or of its first legally binding close; conventions differ.
Investment approaches
3 concepts- Direct Investment
- Co-Investment
A co-investment is a minority equity investment made directly in a specific portfolio company alongside a private fund sponsor's main fund, typically offered to the fund's LPs or other partners on reduced or no management fee and carried interest.
- Impact Investing
Methodologies and frameworks
Standard · Version 1.1
Altss Private Markets Taxonomy & Classification Standard
The Altss standard for classifying private-markets concepts: 33 facets with one primary facet per concept, permanent concept IDs, one canonical page per concept, rules against common category errors, and crosswalks to external classifications.