Committed capital

The total amount an investor has contractually agreed to provide to a fund, whether or not it has yet been called.

Example

An investor with 100,000 committed and 40,000 called still owes the remaining 60,000 on demand.

A return reported on the capital actually deployed is not the return on your commitment, and the gap between them is often larger than any fee.

Capital call — A demand from a fund manager for part of the money an investor has committed, made at a time of the manager's choosing.
Distribution — Cash returned to investors by a fund, typically after an underlying holding is sold or produces income.
Liquidity premium — The additional expected return an investor should require for holding something that cannot readily be sold.

Add up the fees for all ten years before you compare two funds — Management fees are usually quoted as an annual percentage, but what matters is the total over the fund's life, and whether the fee is charged on committed or invested capital. (10 min)
The clauses that decide what happens when something goes wrong — Beyond fees and carry, a fund's agreement governs who must stay, how capital can be reused, what happens if LPs lose confidence, and what you are entitled to know. (12 min)
Buying a whole company, mostly with somebody else's money — A private equity fund buys control of established companies, usually financing much of the price with debt the company itself must repay. (9 min)
Lock-ups: what you actually give up when you cannot sell — A lock-up is a promise you make about your own future, and you make it without knowing what your future will need. Here is what is on the other side of that promise. (10 min)
A venture fund needs a few companies to return the whole fund — Venture capital firms invest other people's money in young companies, and their fund structure makes them look for rare, very large outcomes rather than steady good ones. (10 min)
LPs provide the money; GPs make the decisions — Most private funds are partnerships between limited partners, who commit capital and have limited liability and control, and a general partner, who manages the fund and earns fees and carried interest. (9 min)