There is a one-time management fee at the time of investment. This varies by deal and covers sourcing, due diligence, legal work, and SPV creation. After that there are no ongoing annual fees and no performance fees. Your capital sits in the SPV and nothing is being deducted year after year.

Now the most important thing to understand about private markets.

They are illiquid. This is not a small footnote. It is the central fact of private investing, and it needs to be understood clearly before putting any money in.

After a one-year holding period, you can attempt to sell your SPV units through a secondary market platform that matches buyers and sellers of private securities. But a buyer is not guaranteed. Pricing depends on demand at that moment. Transactions can take time to complete.

The realistic exit paths are an IPO, where your units convert to publicly tradable shares, an acquisition, where you receive your proportional share of the proceeds, or occasionally a buyback by the company or other investors.

Plan for your capital to be locked up for three to seven years.

Taxation is the same as directly held foreign shares. Gains on holdings sold within 24 months of SPV formation are taxed at your income slab rate. Gains after 24 months are taxed at 12.5%. These investments need to be reported in Schedule FA and Schedule FSI when filing your income tax return.