Fund Terms Grow Sweeter; Bain Expected To Offer 20% Carry: CORRECTED
Want to know what's going on with partnership terms and conditions? Let's just say it's a good time to be a limited partner. State plans such as California Public Employees' Retirement System, New York State Common Retirement Fund, New York City Retirement Systems and the Washington State Investment Board, together with their advisers, are successfully applying pressure on terms—and not just on softer items like key-person provisions but on core economic terms like management fees that directly impact general partner economics, said Michael Harrell, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton who represents such blue-chip names as Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Oaktree Capital. "Even the best, most established firms are pushing against the wind," he added. Indeed, it looks like Bain Capital, the Boston shop that moved to a 30-percent carried interest more than a decade ago, may have trouble staying at that lofty perch.
