• Glossar Capital Architecture · kanonische Begriffe

Die benannten Instrumente — und das Arbeitsvokabular. Hier definiert.

Zwei Ebenen. Sechs kanonische Instrumente, geprägt für die Disziplin der Capital Architecture, jeweils mit Beispiel und Gegenbeispiel. Plus eine 50-Begriffe-Feldreferenz zu Capital Structuring, Structured Finance, Venture Building und Fund Mechanics — das Arbeitsvokabular jedes CA-Mandats.

Viele Feldreferenz-Begriffe — Tranche, Waterfall, Senior Secured, First-Loss — beschreiben Schichten hiervon.

CACapital Architecture

Die Disziplin der Kapitalstrukturierung, wo Marktvorlagen noch nicht existieren. Vehikel, Mandate, Sicherheitenrahmen, Waterfall-Mechanik und Co-Investment-Architekturen für Probleme, die der Markt noch nicht zu finanzieren gelernt hat. Steht neben — nicht in — Impact Finance, Blended Finance und generalistischer Beratung. Eine eigene Disziplin mit eigener Methodik.

Weiterlesen: die Disziplin-Seite

CCFCreative Capital Formation

Die aktive Praxis von Capital Architecture. Architektur ist das Substantiv — welche Form die Struktur annimmt. Creative Capital Formation ist das Verb — wie die Struktur tatsächlich zusammengefügt, geschlossen und über Jahre gehalten wird.

MCMandate Cartography

Die systematische Kartierung des Mandats eines Allokators gegen die Struktur einer Opportunität, bevor Instrumente benannt sind. Vier operative Fragen: Policy-Boundary, Risk-Grid-Zelle, Liability-Profil, Entscheidungsautorität und Kadenz. Die Karte ist die Struktur.

MMMobilisation Multiplier

Das Verhältnis von kommerziellem Kapital, das bei Financial Close eingesetzt wird, zu konzessionärem Kapital, das gebunden wurde. Berechnet beim Close, nicht bei Intent.

MnCMinimum Concessionality

Die Disziplin, die kleinste Schicht konzessionären Kapitals einzusetzen, die nötig ist, um eine Struktur investierbar zu machen. Drei Tests: Notwendigkeit, Sizing, Form.

MRAMandate Readiness Assessment

Eine Diagnose, die offenlegt, ob das Mandat, die Governance und die Instrumentenarchitektur eines Allokators für eine gegebene These ausgerichtet sind — bevor ein Vehikel aufgesetzt wird.

CSCapital Structuring

Vehikel, Jurisdiktionen und Hüllen. Die strukturellen Grundelemente, die bestimmen, was ein Mandat rechtlich sein kann, wo es sitzt, und was es halten kann.

AIFM · Alternative Investment Fund Manager: EU-regulated manager authorised under AIFMD; the required wrapper for managing and marketing alternative-fund vehicles to professional EU investors.
RAIF · Reserved Alternative Investment Fund: Luxembourg fund vehicle that is AIFM-supervised but bypasses direct CSSF product approval. Fast time-to-market for blended-finance sleeves, family-office captives and bespoke alternatives.
SCSp · Société en Commandite Spéciale: Luxembourg limited partnership — tax-transparent, contract-flexible, no separate legal personality. Frequently the legal form inside a RAIF wrapper for closed-end PE/VC and private-credit strategies.
SICAV · Société d'Investissement à Capital Variable: Open-ended fund company with variable capital, used for both UCITS and AIF strategies in Luxembourg, Switzerland and elsewhere.
ELTIF · European Long-Term Investment Fund: Marketable to retail across the EU under harmonised rules; designed to channel long-term capital into infrastructure, real assets and SME finance.
SPV · Special Purpose Vehicle: Bankruptcy-remote legal entity created to hold specific assets and issue securities backed exclusively by those assets. Isolates the structure from originator credit risk.
Master-feeder structure: Configuration where one or more feeder funds invest substantially all assets into a single master fund. Pools capital across LPs with different tax or jurisdictional needs while running one portfolio.
Parallel vehicle: Separate fund structure investing alongside a primary vehicle on identical economic terms. Accommodates LPs whose tax, regulatory or jurisdictional position is incompatible with the primary structure.
Continuation fund: Vehicle that takes assets from an expiring fund and extends their hold period under new LP terms. Resolves the tension between fund-life conventions and longer asset lives.
Captive vehicle: Family- or sponsor-controlled standing platform for repeat direct allocation. Concentrates upfront cost; collapses marginal cost per deal.
PCC · Protected Cell Company: Multi-cell structure under one legal hull where each cell's assets and liabilities are statutorily ring-fenced from the others. Common in Guernsey, Mauritius and Liechtenstein.
LOF · Loan-Originating AIF: AIFMD vehicle authorised to originate loans directly rather than acquire them. Most common in Luxembourg, Ireland and Liechtenstein for private-credit strategies.
Tokenisation wrapper: DLT-based securitisation hull that issues tokens representing fractional or whole interests in underlying assets. Legal status depends on host jurisdiction (Liechtenstein TVTG, Switzerland DLT-Act, Lux Bill 7637).
Securitisation vehicle: SPV that pools cash-flow-producing assets and issues tranched securities backed by them. The structural mechanism behind ABS, CLO, RMBS and bespoke private securitisations.
Cross-border passporting: Marketing authorisation across EU/EEA jurisdictions via AIFMD or MiFID notification, allowing a vehicle authorised in one member state to be marketed across the bloc.

SFStructured Finance

Tranching, Credit und der Cashflow-Waterfall. Die Mechanik, mit der ein Risikopool in investierbare Instrumente geformt wird.

Tranche: Risk-stratified slice of a structure. Senior, mezzanine and equity tranches differ in priority of cash flow and order of loss absorption.
Waterfall: Contractual sequence by which cash flow is distributed across tranches; American (deal-by-deal) and European (whole-fund) are the two common conventions.
Senior secured: Top of the capital stack: first claim on cash flow, last in line for losses, backed by specific collateral. Lowest yield, lowest risk.
Mezzanine: Layer between senior debt and equity. Higher yield, higher risk; typically rated BB-BBB and often paired with PIK or warrants.
Subordinated debt: Debt ranking below senior obligations but above equity in the capital stack and in liquidation. Carries a higher coupon to compensate for the increased loss risk.
First-loss layer: Most junior layer; absorbs initial portfolio losses before any other tranche is impaired. Often funded by concessional, sponsor or anchor capital.
Concessional capital: Capital priced below market — sub-commercial return, higher risk-tolerance, or both. Provided by DFIs, foundations and public anchors to enable structures that commercial capital alone cannot price.
Catalytic capital: Concessional capital deployed with explicit mobilisation intent — sized and shaped to bring commercial capital alongside. Performance is measured by the Mobilisation Multiplier.
Pari passu: Equal-ranking in the waterfall and in liquidation. Identical loss profile per dollar across pari-passu positions.
Cross-collateralisation: Structural feature where collateral pledged for one obligation also stands behind others in the same structure. Concentrates security; concentrates risk.
ABL · Asset-Based Lending: Credit secured against operating assets — inventory, receivables, equipment — rather than against cash flow or balance sheet. The asset is the underwrite.
Credit enhancement: Structural features (overcollateralisation, reserve accounts, guarantees, monoline insurance) that improve a tranche's credit profile beyond the underlying collateral.
PD · Probability of Default: Estimated likelihood that a borrower fails to meet its obligations over a defined horizon. A primary input into expected-loss pricing.
LGD · Loss-Given-Default: Expected loss as a percentage of exposure given that default occurs, after collateral recovery and workout. Pairs with PD to size expected loss.
Warehouse facility: Short-term financing line — typically bank-provided — used to accumulate assets ahead of a securitisation closing or repeat-issuance programme.

VBVenture Building

Operatorseitige Instrumente und Capital-Stack-Architektur. Das Vokabular, das Ventures mit nicht-verwässernder Struktur verbindet.

Capital stack: Layered financing architecture of a venture: senior secured, mezzanine, convertible, equity, asset-backed sleeves. The shape determines what the company can actually fund.
Venture debt: Senior secured loans to venture-backed companies, sized against the most recent equity round. Typically includes warrants and is issued by specialist lenders or commercial banks.
SAFE · Simple Agreement for Future Equity: Y Combinator-originated convertible instrument that converts to equity at the next priced round. No maturity, no interest; valuation cap and discount are the negotiated terms.
Convertible note: Debt instrument that converts to equity at a defined trigger (priced round, maturity, change of control). Carries interest and a maturity date, unlike a SAFE.
Bridge round: Interim financing between larger priced rounds. Typically convertible, structured to extend runway without re-pricing.
Royalty / milestone notes: Structured credit instruments whose drawdown, principal forgiveness or interest profile ties to revenue percentage or operational milestones (FDA approval, first paying customer, regulatory licence).
Cap-table engineering: Deliberate structuring of equity ownership across rounds — share classes, conversion mechanics, vesting, anti-dilution — to preserve founder optionality and allocate downstream economics intentionally.
Spin-out: New venture spun out from a corporate, lab or university with associated IP, team and often anchor capital from the parent.
Carve-out: Business unit separated from a parent company and financed independently, frequently with sponsor equity and structured debt.
Founder-side capital strategy: Operator-side architecture covering multi-round dilution path, strategic-vs-financial mix, asset-backed sleeves and exit-route preservation. Counterpart to allocator-side mandate work.

ACAllokator-Seite · Fund Mechanics

LP-Ökonomie, Governance und die Verhandlungsoberfläche eines Closed-End-Fonds. Das Vokabular, das im LPA lebt.

LPA · Limited Partnership Agreement: Governing contract between GP and LPs in a closed-end fund. Defines economics, governance, transfer rules, conduct and termination.
IC · Investment Committee: Decision-making body for allocations. Cadence, quorum and delegation rules determine the speed and shape of capital deployment.
Hurdle rate: Preferred return threshold (commonly 8% per annum) that must be paid to LPs before the GP's carried interest begins to accrue.
Carried interest: Performance fee paid to the GP — typically 20% of profits above the hurdle rate. The economic engine of a private-funds GP.
Catch-up: Waterfall mechanism allowing the GP to receive 100% of distributions above the hurdle until the cumulative split between LPs and GP matches the contractual carried-interest rate.
Clawback: Provision requiring the GP to return previously received carry if subsequent fund performance falls below contractual thresholds. Aligns timing of payments to realised performance.
SAA · Strategic Asset Allocation: Long-term allocation policy of an institutional allocator across asset classes, regions and risk buckets. Determines whether a given vehicle is even readable to the IC.
LDI · Liability-Driven Investment: Allocation framework — common to pension and insurance allocators — that aligns asset duration and cash flow to underlying liabilities. Constrains the kinds of vehicles such allocators can hold.
Side letter: Bilateral contractual amendment between a single LP and the GP, modifying fund terms (fee discounts, MFN, transfer rights, reporting). Confidential, negotiated at subscription.
Anchor LP: First major commitment to a fund — typically 15-25% of fund size. Signals credibility, unlocks subsequent commitments, and is usually accommodated with bespoke side-letter terms.

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