# The Private Allocator > Private markets for people who sign their own subscription docs. The Private Allocator is published in partnership with SMB Investor Network, a platform for small-business investments. We may link to it. We do not recommend any investment. ## About The Private Allocator is a publication by Nick Bryant for accredited individuals learning to compare private-market investments. We explain investment categories, examine the evidence and provide blank tools for recording commitments and liquidity needs. We do not recommend securities or managers. - Site: https://theprivateallocator.com - Partner: https://www.smbinvestornetwork.com - Full corpus (single fetch): https://theprivateallocator.com/llms-full.txt - RSS: https://theprivateallocator.com/feed.xml - Sitemap: https://theprivateallocator.com/sitemap.xml ## Blog (9 articles) - [The Private Equity J-Curve, Modeled for One Household](https://theprivateallocator.com/blog/private-equity-j-curve-pacing): The cash J-curve is arithmetic. In an illustrative model, one fund goes about 79 percent underwater by year 4. Pacing shrinks the hole. - [Private Market Returns: Read the Spread, Not the Average](https://theprivateallocator.com/blog/private-markets-return-dispersion): Legacy US PE and venture median vintage-level quartile gaps of 12.3 and 13.2 points. The asset-class average is the least useful number to read. - [Accredited Investor Options: Could Your Money Be Locked Up?](https://theprivateallocator.com/blog/accredited-investor-options): Compare accredited investor options by exposure, lockup and the work each asks of you. Legal eligibility is not the same as affordability. - [Write Down What the Money Is For Before You Sign Anything](https://theprivateallocator.com/blog/family-investment-policy): Write a family investment policy around what the money is for, cash limits, responsibility and review triggers, with blank prompts to decide whether to commit. - [The Family Office Average Isn't Your Family.](https://theprivateallocator.com/blog/family-office-allocation-surveys): Read family office allocation surveys with care. Check the sample, wealth measures and spending needs before applying their lessons to your own portfolio. - [If You Can't Find the Document, You Don't Know the Number](https://theprivateallocator.com/blog/private-investment-administration): Make private investment administration easier to follow. Keep documents, commitments, cash received and valuation dates in one record. - [Your Business, Your Job and Your Fund May Be the Same Bet](https://theprivateallocator.com/blog/private-investment-concentration): Examine private investment concentration across business, work and property. Map shared risks and record missing information before your next commitment. - [Capital Calls Don't Wait: Build a Liquidity Budget](https://theprivateallocator.com/blog/private-investment-liquidity-budget): Build a private investment liquidity budget that separates what you must pay, accepted commitments and uncertain distributions, with a blank cash calendar. - [A Good Quarterly Letter Is Not a Distribution](https://theprivateallocator.com/blog/private-portfolio-review): Use a private portfolio review to separate reported values from cash received, challenge strategy labels, and give unanswered questions a follow-up owner. ## Glossary (12 terms) - [Accredited Investor](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/accredited-investor): An accredited investor meets a legal eligibility category for certain private offerings; that status tells you nothing about what fits your portfolio. - [Angel Investing](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/angel-investing): Angel investing means investing personal capital directly in startups, with responsibility for company selection and exposure to loss and uncertain exits. - [Concentration Risk](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/concentration-risk): Concentration risk arises when employment, property and private holdings depend on a shared business, industry or geography that can face a common setback. - [Distribution](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/distribution): A cash distribution is money paid from an investment to its investor, distinct from reported asset value or cash retained within an operating business. - [Due Diligence](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/due-diligence): Due diligence investigates an investment case, its weaknesses and remaining questions so you understand the decision; it never removes the risk. - [Fund of Funds](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/fund-of-funds): A fund of funds invests in other funds, delegating underlying selection while you still carry the overlap and investment risk underneath. - [Holding Period](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/holding-period): A holding period measures how long capital remains invested, separating elapsed holding time from a projected exit and from cash reaching you. - [Investment Policy Statement](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/investment-policy-statement): An investment policy statement records your portfolio's purpose, constraints and responsibilities to guide decisions as needs and circumstances change. - [Liquidity Risk](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/liquidity-risk): Liquidity risk is the risk of being unable to access money when needed, even when a private investment has a reported value in your portfolio. - [Lockup](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/lockup): A lockup restricts when an investor may seek withdrawal from a private fund; reaching its end does not guarantee payment or immediate access to cash. - [Redemption Gate](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/redemption-gate): A redemption gate limits withdrawals from a fund even when investors may submit requests, so permission to ask does not guarantee receipt of cash. - [Unfunded Commitment](https://theprivateallocator.com/glossary/unfunded-commitment): An unfunded commitment is capital already promised but not yet called, so it still counts against you before any new private investment. ## Key Topics - household portfolio purpose, liquidity and investment records - angel investing and early-stage venture - growth equity and late-stage venture - lower-market and large-cap private equity - LP-led and GP-led secondaries - private credit and cash-flow evidence - real estate, infrastructure, farmland and timberland - SMB and search-fund exposure within a wider portfolio ## Contact - Email: hello@smbinvestornetwork.com