What each kind of firm owns, how it makes money, how it is structured, and how it thinks about risk.
Control buyers of whole companies, financed with debt and improved over years.
Minority backers of young companies, playing a power-law game of outliers.
Direct lenders to companies, earning yield and seniority instead of ownership.
Actively traded pools chasing absolute return across almost any instrument.
Large, mostly long-only stewards of capital across public markets and beyond.
Retirement pools that must match long-dated liabilities with careful returns.
State-owned pools investing national surpluses across the globe.
Perpetual pools that spend a little each year and invest for the very long run.
Private investment shops built around a single family's wealth and wishes.
Liability-driven investors deploying premiums against future claims.