About

Private markets, explained from both sides of the table

Carry & Compound is an independent education brand. We make short, sourced briefings on how private markets work: who pays, who decides, and where the money goes.

Why this exists

Private markets now shape pensions, endowments and family wealth around the world, yet most explanations are written either for insiders or for people preparing for a job interview. Few explain the economics and the governance from both the manager’s and the investor’s seat, with the regional differences left in.

That’s the gap we fill. Each briefing takes one real question, like who pays the GP commitment, and works through it with sourced numbers, a worked example and a worksheet you can use.

Why the characters

Carry & Compound is anonymous by design. The briefings are presented by a cast of folded-paper characters, so the focus stays on the material rather than on a personality, and each side of the table has a voice. The characters’ voices are synthetic (AI-generated); the research and scripts are written for each briefing and checked against sources.

How we teach

Sourced. Every number on screen carries a source line. Third-party material is cited and paraphrased, never copied.
Fact-checked. Each claim is logged and checked against the original. Anything we can’t confirm is labelled or left out.
Balanced. GP and LP views both get a hearing. Opinion is labelled as Koi’s Take and kept apart from fact.
Global. United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific, with a note wherever data is thin or mostly American.
Education, not advice. We explain structures and trade-offs. We never recommend a fund, manager, security or strategy, and we don’t comment on live fundraisings.

Independence

We aren’t paid by fund managers, platforms or product providers to feature them. If that ever changes, any sponsorship will be clearly labelled.

The cast

Koi, Kai and Leo

Three folded-paper characters, three seats at the table. The GP and the LP argue across it; the Guide sits at the head and keeps score.

Curled, gesturing

Turning, with a stern look

The Guide · lead presenter

Koi

A folded-paper koi who sets up the question, walks through the numbers and keeps score between the two seats. She closes with Koi’s Take: a short, labelled, sourced view that weighs both sides. A guide, never an adviser.

Why a koi: In the old legend the koi swims up the waterfall at the Dragon Gate and is transformed: patience, rewarded late, like a ten-year fund. Koi grow slowly and live for decades. And “a koi grows to the size of its pond” is only half true, which is exactly the kind of tidy saying Koi likes to fact-check.
Personality: Curious, warm and precise, with a dry sense of humour. Patient with beginners, impatient with jargon used to hide things.
Worries about: Numbers quoted without a date or a denominator. Explanation being mistaken for advice. Either side being turned into a villain.
How they argue: She referees rather than judges. When Kai and Leo talk past each other, she calls a “time out” and puts the real number on screen, and she’s happy to say who had the better argument.
Running gag: The source check: whenever anyone quotes a figure, a paper tag flips up with the source and year. Now and then it flips up on a joke.
Leads: Short Version · Source Check · Koi’s Take · Ask Koi

Often heard

“Let’s follow the money.”
“Here’s the number. And here’s where it’s from.”
“Both things can be true.”
“Keep compounding.”

With arms crossed

The GP · general partner

Kai

A paper tapir in a blue scarf. Raises the fund, finds and runs the deals, earns the fee and the carry, and explains how it all looks from the manager’s side, including where the incentives pull.

Why a tapir: Few people can name a tapir, and few can say what a GP does all day. Tapirs are steady, mostly nocturnal and little changed over millions of years, and they spread seeds wherever they roam. A tapir’s pregnancy lasts around 13 months, about as long as many fundraises. They live in the Americas and South-east Asia: global, owned by no one region.
Personality: Measured, quietly confident and a little sleepy by day. Self-aware about his own incentives: “Yes, I know how that sounds.”
Worries about: Early J-curve headlines. A key person leaving. Fundraising drying up. Being lumped in with the worst of the industry.
How they argue: Politely and persistently. He concedes real points, then reframes them, and he loses some arguments. He is never written as a villain or a salesman.
Running gag: Kai is nocturnal. He turns up to daytime segments with a mug, insists he’s wide awake, and still spots the spreadsheet error first. His scarf gets tighter the longer the fee talk runs.
Leads: From the GP Seat · Kai’s Whiteboard · How a Fund Gets Built

Often heard

“Long game.”
“Fair point. Here’s the other side.”
“Let me draw it.”

Waving

With arms crossed

The LP · limited partner

Leo

A paper lion with a red mane. Pension, endowment, insurer, sovereign fund or family office: the capital behind the fund, and the one who asks the awkward questions everyone else is thinking.

Why a lion: The lion is the one every GP wants on side, and a place in Leo’s pride has to be earned, fund after fund. Lions rest for most of the day and act decisively when it matters, just as Leo can sit through hours of fund admin and wake instantly at “capital call”. Recognised everywhere, from Africa to India’s Gir forest to festivals across Asia and Europe.
Personality: Direct, protective and fair-minded, with a big laugh. Sceptical, not cynical. He changes his mind when the numbers say so.
Worries about: Fees he can’t see. Being the last to know. Alignment that’s financed by someone else. “When do I get my money back?”
How they argue: He asks rather than accuses, then follows up until he gets an answer. He credits a good structure when he sees one, and sometimes he’s the one who’s wrong.
Running gag: A side-letter wish list that unrolls a little further every episode (“…and most-favoured-nation, obviously”). He dozes through admin and wakes instantly at the word “fees”.
Leads: The Awkward Question · Leo’s Checklist · Read the Fine Print

Often heard

“Show me.”
“Whose money is that, exactly?”
“And who pays for that?”

Two sides, fairly told

Kai and Leo each get the strongest version of their case. Who has the better of it rotates, and we keep a log.

Characters, not people

None of the three stands in for a real person, firm or institution, and none of them has a career story. The voices are synthetic.

A guide, not an adviser

Koi explains and weighs evidence. She never recommends a fund, manager, security or strategy.