How Carried Interest Works in Venture Capital

You might have heard about venture capital, but do you really know what it is and how it works? Well, venture capital refers to a type of private equity investment that takes place when a company seeks funding for growth, expansion, and development. Venture capitalists invest in startups and offer money with the intention of earning substantial returns. Likewise, carried interest refers to a percentage of profits that general partners of venture capital funds earn for their work other than the upfront investment. Probably you would want to know, what is carried interest? how does it work in venture capital? and how does it work in terms of taxes? The purpose of this article is to cover the concept of carried interest and how it works in relation to venture capital.

Carried interest in Venture capital

Before we delve into how carried interest works in venture capital, it is important to first explore what venture capital is. Venture capital is a popular investment strategy in which professionals invest capital in early-stage, high-growth companies with a long-term perspective. These professionals are known as venture capitalists who are generally highly skilled and accomplished individuals who are financially strong and passionate about funding new companies. In this regard, carried interest is a portion of the profits received by general partners as compensation for managing a venture capital fund. Thus, the general partner is paid a small amount of the return earned on the fund’s investments, which serves to compensate them for their efforts in raising money, executing transactions and structuring deals, etc.

What is carried interest?

The concept of carried interest in venture capital has been around for quite some time and was established in the private equity industry. The basic principle behind carried interest is that it represents a share of the profits earned by fund managers in a venture capital fund, which is distinct from the other forms of compensation. As a matter of fact, carried interest is typically paid in the form of a small percentage of the net profits earned by the fund managers. Based on certain factors, achievements, and returns, private equity fund managers are entitled to receive a percentage of the profits as carried interest.

How does carried interest work?

Well, the fund managers are responsible for the proper allocation of funds, framing strategies to maximize the returns, investor relations, creating value for the investors, structuring the deals, etc. This can be done in their capacity as general partners by playing a pivotal role in the success of the company. As a result of these efforts, the company makes profits, and a percentage of these profits are paid to the general partners in the form of carried interest.

Usually, around 15% to 20% of the profits are paid in the form of carried interest to general partners which are further passed to the fund managers. While it is essential to note that in the case of underperforms, the general partners do not necessarily earn carried interest and it might be forfeited. Therefore, the general partners must perform well in order to earn carried interest.

Importance of carried interest

When considering venture capital, carried interest is a relevant factor that can be used to measure the work of the general partners. The same applies to the performance of a fund manager. Here are importance of carried interest:

• It offers motivation to managers to take on huge risks due to the fact that if the general partners earn a large portion of cumulative profits as carried interest, they are highly motivated to create high returns for investors.
• It serves as a way of rewarding effort, and provides an incentive for managers to go beyond the scope of the job. As a result of this, fund managers are motivated to make efforts to generate higher returns.
• It is subject to capital gains taxes at a rate ranging from 15% to 20%. The reason why carried interest is taxed at this rate instead of ordinary income tax rates is that it is not a guaranteed payment, but rather an amount that the fund managers may receive.
• It is not distributed prior to the repayment of the initial investment plus a rate of return to the limited partners. Thus, the general partners do not receive the carried interest until their investments have been paid back and a certain number of profits have been generated.
• It is based on profits, not revenue, so it aligns the interests of the general partners and limited partners. These parties are both rewarded when the fund gains in value and when it outperforms.

What is a carry hurdle?

To understand how carried interest works in relation to venture capital, it is essential to understand the concept of a carry hurdle. Basically, the term “carry hurdle” or “hurdle rate” is frequently used to describe the minimum amount of return that must be achieved on an investment for an investor to earn carried interest. In other words, the fund must earn more than the pre-agreed rate of return even after returning the limited partner’s investment.

As such, there is no assurance of carried interest if the fund does not achieve this hurdle rate. The objective behind this carry hurdle or hurdle rate is to help justify the investment and maintain the ability for earned carried interest. Therefore, the lower the rate, the higher the required return on investment. In addition, carry hurdles can be established depending on the profitability of an investment.

Taxation of carried interest

Now that we have a solid understanding of what carried interest is and how it works, it is essential to evaluate carried interest and tax. Carried interest is typically taxed as long-term capital gains as of June 2021, based on the general partner’s tax bracket. The general partner must have owned the assets generating the carried interest for a minimum of three years in order to be eligible for the long-term capital gains tax rate.

Carried interest may also be eligible for QSBS treatment, depending on the situation. Long-term capital gains tax, with a top rate of 20%, is applied to carried interest on investments held for more than three years. Although, the normal holding time for venture capital and private equity funds is five to seven years.

Carried interest calculation

To further evaluate this topic, it is essential for us to understand how carried interest is calculated. Following is an example of carried interest calculation. Let’s say a limited partner puts $5k into a fund with a 20% carried interest fee. The fund successfully exits, and that LP receives a payout of $100,000. So, after their initial amount is repaid ($100,000 – $5,000 = $950,000), the investor will receive 20% of the money earned through the fund’s return. In this instance, the investor earns $760,000 in profits plus their initial investment of $5000, for a total of $810,000.

Why should you consider using carried interest?

The benefits of using carried interest include the fact that it is a fair way to reward general partners who have made a great deal of effort in helping the investment fund to achieve its goals. In addition, carried interest gives the general partners an incentive to discover new opportunities and carry out research in order to make successful investments.

This can be applied to private equity and venture capital funds since the general partner is usually a part of the investment committee, which makes the decision on allocation, funding, and management. Therefore, making decisions that align the interests of investors and the general partners is vital and can be achieved through the use of carried interest. As a result, the general partners have a great deal of motivation to execute their duties properly.

How does carried interest work in venture capital?

Carried interest plays a key role in venture capital and private equity, and it is essential to gain an understanding of how this works in order to make informed decisions when soliciting advice. Below mentioned are some of the scenarios in which carried interest may apply in venture capital:

• Paid only on existing – The general partner works on a pre-agreed basis and is paid a specified percentage of the profits of the fund. While general partners will not be compensated until investments are actually sold, financial predictions can be used to appraise current portfolio companies and estimate the fund’s present returns. Thus, exits usually follow a business sale or an initial public offering (IPO).
• Paid per deal – This structure is similar to the first model, but in this case, the general partner receives compensation based on each deal. When the VC secures an investment for a portion of the fund, they issue a request for cash for the acquisition. Limited partners make a commitment for a specific amount of money. If 100% of the invested capital is returned to the limited partners after the investment is closed, the venture capitalist will receive carried interest.
• Hurdle rate possibilities – As a matter of fact, many agreements restrict paying out carried interest until a hurdle rate has been attained. Hedge funds and private equity funds are more likely to have hurdle rates of 6-8%. This is done to ensure that a fund’s investments generate a small profit before being able to reward the investor’s portfolio with carried interest. After the general partner has used their financial estimates to calculate the most likely investment returns for the next three years, they will divide that figure by the hurdle rate. This will help them gauge whether or not the limited partner’s money is safe.
• Clowbacks – It is vital for both the general partners and group investors to have a clear understanding of how carried interest will work in case a deal does not go as expected. In the case of a fund earning a high early return on its first investment and then making several unsuccessful investments, the carried interest from the previous investment may be clawed back to make limited partners.
• Premium carried interest – This is a very interesting, yet complex matter because the general partner may decide to pay the limited partner an extra incentive for their commitment. Some funds will negotiate an increase in carried interest after a certain amount has been returned. As a result, the fund will pay a higher percentage to limited partners once a threshold has been met.
• Taxes – Carried interest is currently taxed similarly to a capital gain. Due to this, wealthy VC managers can pay 15-20% of their earnings in taxes. There are now ongoing bills that would require carried interest to be declared as income, and the IRS has begun putting limitations on how businesses can claim money is carried interest. Some general partners may pay up to a 25% tax increase as a result of this.

How does carried interest impact startups?

According to the bill’s text, Mac Conwell, managing partner at RareBreed Ventures, said the early venture fund industry would have been affected, but not significantly. He calculated that many of his peers who work for early-stage funds, where the risks are greatest, do not even earn $400,000 annually. Conwell claimed that if the amendment had been approved, it would have been a step in the direction of the ultimate objective, which is probably removing the loophole entirely, which he claimed would damage his fund somewhat.

Conwell agreed that tiers, like the one previously in the bill, to prevent changes from harming smaller investors like himself made sense and said he understood the justification for taxing big gains by extremely large PE firms. Thus, he understood the necessity of the provision but believed that the tax benefits needed to be further balanced.

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