FAQs

The primary difference is how investments are issued, traded and valued. Public-market securities are generally listed on recognised exchanges, with prices established continuously through market trading. Private-market investments are typically made through negotiated transactions, with valuations determined periodically rather than through daily market prices. They also tend to be held over longer investment horizons, with ownership changing through events such as funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and secondary transactions.

Investors can access private markets through structures including Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), private equity and venture capital funds, funds of funds, direct investments and private-market secondary transactions. The structure determines factors such as diversification, investment horizon, manager exposure and liquidity.

Because private-market assets do not have continuously observable market prices, they are generally valued periodically using established methodologies. Depending on the asset, these may include recent transaction prices, comparable-company multiples, discounted cash-flow analysis and other accepted valuation approaches.

SEBI classifies AIFs into three broad categories. Category I includes strategies such as venture capital, SME and infrastructure funds. Category II includes private equity funds, debt funds and many funds of funds that do not fall within Category I or III. Category III AIFs may employ diverse or complex trading strategies and may use leverage subject to applicable regulations.

Under SEBI’s AIF Regulations, the general minimum investment by an investor in an AIF is ₹1 crore. Regulatory exceptions apply to certain investors and structures, including employees or directors of an AIF or its manager and accredited investors. Investors should refer to the applicable regulations and fund documents for the requirements of a particular AIF.

Cumulative commitments across Category I, II and III AIFs stood at approximately ₹15.05 lakh crore as of September 2025, according to No Ifs About AIFs 3.0 by CRISIL Intelligence and Oister Global. The study found that AIF commitments grew at approximately 30.7% CAGR between FY21 and H1 FY26, reflecting the expansion of India’s private-capital ecosystem.

DPI, or Distributed to Paid-In Capital, measures how much capital a fund has actually distributed to investors relative to the capital contributed by them.

DPI = Cumulative distributions ÷ Paid-in capital

A DPI of 1.0x means the fund has returned an amount equal to paid-in capital. Unlike measures that include the estimated value of investments still held by a fund, DPI reflects realised distributions.

TVPI, or Total Value to Paid-In Capital, compares the total value created by a fund with the capital contributed by investors. It includes both capital already distributed to investors and the residual value of investments that remain in the portfolio.

The four metrics answer different questions. IRR measures the rate at which returns have been generated and accounts for timing. MOIC measures value relative to invested capital. TVPI considers both distributions and the remaining value of the portfolio. DPI considers only capital actually distributed to investors. No single metric provides a complete picture of private-market performance.

Yes. A fund may hold investments that have increased substantially in value, contributing to its reported performance, without having sold those investments or returned much cash to investors. IRR and DPI therefore measure different aspects of performance: IRR captures the rate of return, while DPI shows how much paid-in capital has actually been distributed.

A DPI of 1.0x means a fund has distributed an amount equal to the paid-in capital of its investors. It does not necessarily mean the fund has completed all its investments or distributions. Any investments still held by the fund may continue to generate additional gains or losses.

There is no fixed timetable, as distributions depend on strategy, vintage, investment stage and market conditions. In the CRISIL Intelligence × Oister Global benchmark, equity AIF schemes that reached 1.0x DPI took approximately 7.2 years on average to do so. The data illustrates that value creation and cash realisation in private markets can occur on different timelines.

Private-market liquidity can arise through several routes, including IPOs, acquisitions, strategic sales, buybacks and secondary transactions. The appropriate route depends on the company, shareholder, fund structure and market environment. An IPO is therefore one possible liquidity event, but it is not the only way capital can be returned to private-market investors.

Private equity and venture capital funds can exit investments through IPOs, strategic acquisitions, sales to other financial investors, company or promoter buybacks and secondary transactions. The timing and form of an exit depend on the underlying company, the fund’s strategy and prevailing market conditions.

Potentially, yes. An existing shareholder may be able to sell an interest to another investor through a private-market secondary transaction, subject to applicable contractual, regulatory and transfer requirements. Liquidity before an IPO is not guaranteed, but an IPO is not the only mechanism through which ownership can change.

In a primary transaction, an investor typically purchases newly issued shares or fund interests and the capital goes to the issuing company or fund. In a secondary transaction, an investor purchases an existing interest from another shareholder or investor. The underlying asset can therefore remain the same; what changes is the holder of that asset.

A secondary transaction generally involves an existing shareholder or fund investor transferring an interest to another eligible buyer. Transactions can involve due diligence, valuation and price negotiation, review of transfer rights, documentation and required approvals. The exact process depends on the asset and transaction structure.

India’s private-market secondary transaction value reached approximately ₹377 billion in FY25, up approximately 32% from FY24, according to CRISIL Intelligence × Oister Global research. H1 FY26 recorded approximately ₹361 billion of transactions.

The decision to sell and the quality of the underlying company are separate questions. An investor may seek liquidity because of fund-life constraints, portfolio rebalancing, concentration limits, liquidity requirements or a change in investment strategy. Employees and founders may also seek partial liquidity after holding shares for several years. A secondary sale therefore does not, by itself, indicate a negative view of the underlying company.

India has a larger and more mature private-capital ecosystem than it did a decade ago. More companies have raised institutional capital across multiple funding rounds, while older investments are reaching stages at which existing shareholders may seek liquidity.

CRISIL Intelligence × Oister Global research found secondary transaction value reached approximately ₹377 billion in FY25, up 32% year on year, while average transaction size increased from approximately ₹2.28 billion in FY20 to ₹8.39 billion in H1 FY26.

An LP-led secondary occurs when an existing limited partner, or LP, sells some or all of its interest in a private-market fund to another investor. The underlying portfolio generally remains managed by the same fund manager; what changes is the investor holding the fund interest.

A GP-led secondary is initiated by a fund’s general partner or manager and typically creates a liquidity option for existing investors while allowing one or more portfolio assets to continue under a new structure. Existing investors may, depending on the transaction, have the option to realise liquidity or continue their exposure.

A continuation vehicle is a structure through which one or more assets from an existing private-market fund are transferred into a new vehicle. It can allow existing investors to receive liquidity while giving other investors the opportunity to maintain or acquire exposure to the assets for a longer period.

Secondary pricing is negotiated between buyer and seller and can depend on company performance, reference valuations, comparable companies, expected exit timing, shareholder rights, information availability, market conditions and the seller’s circumstances. A secondary transaction may occur above, at or below a previous reference valuation.

No. While some secondary transactions occur at a discount to a previous valuation or reference price, this is not a defining feature of secondaries. Transactions can occur at a discount, at the reference valuation or at a premium depending on the asset, demand, information available, transaction structure and negotiating position of the parties.

Secondaries can involve assets that are further along in their lifecycle than investments made at an earlier stage, but this does not guarantee a faster exit. The timing of liquidity still depends on the underlying asset, transaction structure and eventual exit route.

Secondaries remain private-market investments and involve risks including valuation risk, liquidity risk, information asymmetry, concentration risk, business risk and uncertainty around the timing or occurrence of an exit. Entering an investment at a later stage or through a secondary transaction does not eliminate the underlying risks associated with private-market investing.

Oister Global has built a private-markets platform spanning 7 funds across strategies including secondaries, feeder funds, fund of funds and direct investments.

These strategies are designed to provide different forms of access to India’s private markets, from diversified exposure through underlying PE/VC managers to secondary and direct investments in private companies.

Oister Global’s platform and founding team represent $700 million+ of capital deployed across asset classes, with a track record spanning more than two decades of investing in Indian private markets.

Across this experience, the platform represents exposure to 100+ portfolio companies through fund investments, secondaries and direct investments.

India’s private markets have grown rapidly, but access has historically been fragmented — spread across individual fund relationships, informal networks, or one-off deals. Oister exists to give investors a single, structured gateway into this ecosystem, backed by disciplined due diligence and multi-strategy portfolio construction.

Rather than running a single fund with one strategy, Oister operates as a multi-strategy platform — combining primary fund investments, secondaries, and co-investments under one roof. This gives investors diversified, curated access to India’s private markets, rather than exposure tied to a single fund, sector, or vintage.

Oister Global operates across four principal private-market strategies: secondary funds, feeder funds, fund of funds and direct investments.

Secondary funds provide exposure to existing stakes in private companies. Feeder funds provide pooled access to selected PE and VC funds. Fund-of-funds strategies diversify across multiple private-market managers, while direct investments provide participation in individual private companies alongside selected managers.

Through its funds, underlying fund managers, secondary funds, Oister Global’s platform has represented exposure to 100+ private-market companies.

Companies featured across Oister’s portfolio include Shiprocket, Agnikul, Purplle, Kuku FM, Servify, BlackBuck, OfBusiness, Zypp, BlueStone, Bombay Shaving Company and Citykart, among others.

The nature of Oister’s exposure can differ across companies and may arise through an underlying fund, secondaries or direct investment.

Secondaries are one of Oister’s core strategies, built through the ACE Fund series, now in its third vehicle. ACE Fund I was oversubscribed, while ACE Fund II closed at ₹400 crore, twice its original ₹200 crore target. ACE Fund III was subsequently launched with a ₹500 crore corpus, taking total commitments across the ACE franchise past ₹1,000 crore.

Across the series, Oister has backed companies including BlueStone, Kuku FM, Shiprocket, BlackBuck, Purplle, M1xchange and Servify. Several companies in the ACE Fund I portfolio have since listed, filed their DRHPs or delivered exits reflecting the growing depth and liquidity of India’s private-market ecosystem.

Oister Global follows a structured due-diligence process when evaluating private-market opportunities and fund managers. Its framework considers factors including manager experience, historical fund performance, the distribution of underlying investment performance, the strength and repeatability of the manager’s franchise, governance and reputation.

Yes. Oister Global publishes research and educational content covering India’s private markets, AIFs, performance, liquidity and secondaries.

Oister publishes the CRISIL x Oister Report called No Ifs About AIFs, an annual deep-dive benchmarking study on India’s Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) industry, now in its third edition, aggregating performance data across 170 schemes spanning venture capital funds and equity AIFs.

Oister also runs The Unlisted Intel, its dedicated content microsite offering longer-form analysis, educational modules, and a monthly deep dive into India’s private markets.