carried interest

American  

[kar-eed in-ter-ist, in-trist] / ˈkær id ˈɪn tər ɪst, ˈɪn trɪst /

noun

Finance.

1. a share of profits received by managers of private investment funds, as private equity and hedge funds, unrelated to initial money the managers may or may not have contributed.

   His piles of accumulated carried interest have fallen neatly into a tax-free loophole.

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Etymology

Origin of carried interest

First recorded in 1750–55

Example Sentences

The two largest proxy-advisory firms recommended that investment-fund clients vote against ratifying BlackRock’s executive comp packages, citing transparency concerns over how performance incentives are determined and the complexity of the growing carried interest program.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026

Some platforms that target retail investors offer SPVs with management fees or upfront commissions of 10% or more, plus 2% annual fees and 20% carried interest on any gains, according to Nasdaq Private Market.

From MarketWatch • May 13, 2026

But the Joint Committee previously estimated that taxing carried interest as income would raise $63.1 billion over a decade, and that cracking down on derivative contracts could raise $16.5 billion in that time frame.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

As part of the agreement, Brookfield Asset Management is set to acquire an additional 26% interest in Oaktree’s fee-related earnings, carried interest from certain funds, and partner manager interest in 17Capital and DoubleLine, it said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 13, 2025

The first amounted to 1,800,000l.; and this undoubtedly carried interest.

From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 01 (of 12) by Burke, Edmund