Vintage

Vintage — the year a private-markets fund begins deploying capital. Private-fund returns cluster strongly by vintage: funds that deployed into a crash (2009, 2020) systematically outperform those that deployed at peaks, so institutional programs commit steadily across years rather than lump into one. The personal translation: your business and property entry points have vintages too, and dry powder is what lets you choose a good one.

First used in: 5.4 · The endowment model, honestly