A founder who sold a company may still own founder shares, sit on a board, fund a foundation, and buy a residence through an LLC managed by a family office. The apartment is one line item in a much larger map. Knowing the map makes the purchase smoother and the paperwork coherent.
Before you bid
How wealth is held
How wealth is organized is not a finance seminar. It is practical literacy for anyone buying serious property in Manhattan. Who signs, which entity holds title, and which advisors approve the check all shape speed, privacy, and risk.
When you look at a Fifth Avenue apartment or a townhouse on the Upper East Side, the talk usually starts with location, light, and layout. Fair enough. What actually closes the deal is quieter: who owns what, through which vehicle, under whose authority, and with what tax and liability consequences.
Family offices, holding companies, trusts, and funds aren't abstractions. They decide whether an offer can be wired in forty-eight hours or needs a quarterly investment-committee meeting. They decide whether title sits in a personal name or behind an LLC. They decide whether a co-op board will even entertain the application.
This field guide explains, in plain language, how wealth is commonly held by founders, families, pensions, endowments, and public markets, and where Manhattan real estate fits inside those patterns. It's written for sophisticated buyers and the people who advise them. It isn't advice to buy or sell any security, isn't a recommendation of any allocation, and isn't personalized tax or legal guidance. Structures described here are general patterns. Every family's situation is distinct. Agent Kammer is a licensed New York real estate salesperson, not a financial advisor. The aim is shared vocabulary, so when your counsel, CPA, and family office speak in shorthand, you can follow, and so when you buy property, you understand the container you're putting it in.
People hold wealth the way they do for reasons that aren't purely financial. Legacy. Privacy. Patience. A sense of belonging that outlasts a single address. Knowing that helps you read the paperwork with a cooler head.
The play
Before you fall for the light and the layout, ask counsel one blunt question: who signs, through which entity, and will this building even take that buyer? Get the answer before the offer letter goes out.
Key terms
- Holding structure. The legal and organizational arrangement through which assets are owned and controlled.
- Title. Legal ownership of property, which may sit with a person or an entity.
- Family office. A private organization that manages a family's wealth, administration, and often real estate.
- Pass-through entity. A business form (often an LLC taxed as a partnership) whose income flows to owners' tax returns.
- Beneficial owner. The person who ultimately enjoys the economic benefit of an asset, even if title is in another name.
How it works
- Wealth is rarely held as a single pile of cash in one name.
- It is layered: operating companies, shares, trusts, LLCs, offices, and funds.
- Each layer has a job (control, liability, tax timing, privacy, or succession).
- Property purchases sit inside those layers. The buyer's job is to match the home to the right container and process.
Example
Where property fits
ManhattanFor a $5M+ Manhattan purchase, structure literacy means knowing whether the signer is an individual, a trust, or an LLC; whether a family office must approve; and whether the building (especially a co-op) will accept an entity buyer. That knowledge belongs in the first conversation with counsel, not the week before closing.
An apartment worth loving can still fail if the title vehicle fights the building, the board, or the family's own process.
Layers
How wealth is organized
From operating company to founder shares, trusts and LLCs, family office, and holdings, wealth is typically stacked in layers. Each layer answers a different question: who controls, who benefits, who is liable, and who gets to decide.
Most large fortunes don't sit in a checking account. They begin with an operating company, the business that creates value. Founders and early investors hold equity in that company, often through classes of stock that separate economic ownership from voting control. Those shares may then move into trusts or limited liability companies for estate planning, liability separation, or privacy. A family office may sit above or beside those entities, coordinating investments, taxes, philanthropy, and real estate. At the top (or the side) sit diversified holdings: public securities, private funds, art, operating businesses, and property.
Control often flows upward through voting rights and board seats. Economic benefit flows through dividends, distributions, and capital gains. Liability is usually contained at the entity level if formalities are respected. The stack isn't a product to buy. It's a description of how many families and institutions already arrange their affairs.
There's a quiet philosophy under the paperwork. Some people want their name on everything. Others prefer distance between the life they live and the assets that fund it. Neither impulse is wrong. Both show up in how title is taken.
The play
Map your family's stack on one page (operating company, trusts, LLCs, office). Then ask which layer should take title, and whether that choice helps privacy, slows a resale, or both.
Key terms
- Operating company. The business that produces goods or services and generates earnings.
- Class B / super-voting shares. Equity that carries more votes per share than ordinary stock, concentrating control.
- Trust. A legal arrangement in which a trustee holds assets for beneficiaries under a governing document.
- LLC (limited liability company). A flexible entity that can hold assets while limiting owners' personal liability.
- Economic stake vs. voting control. Ownership of cash-flow rights versus ownership of decision rights. They need not match.
How it works
- Value is created in an operating business.
- Equity represents claims on that value and often on control.
- Equity and other assets are placed in trusts or LLCs for planning and liability.
- A family office or wealth manager coordinates the whole.
- Individual holdings, including homes, sit in the appropriate entity.
Example
Example only, drawn from widely reported public facts about Meta Platforms and Mark Zuckerberg: Meta Platforms, Inc. is a public parent with operating subsidiaries. Zuckerberg has been widely reported to hold roughly a mid-teens percentage economic stake while retaining majority voting control through Class B super-voting shares. Portions of founder wealth have been widely reported as held through trusts and LLCs. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has been structured as an LLC rather than a traditional private foundation. ICONIQ Capital has been widely reported as a wealth manager associated with that ecosystem. Residences have been widely reported as held via LLCs. None of this is a suggestion to emulate any structure. It's a familiar public example of layered ownership.
Where property fits
ManhattanManhattan homes purchased by high-net-worth buyers frequently sit in LLCs or trusts managed with family-office oversight. Townhouses especially are often treated as private holdings rather than branded investment products. The buyer's advisor's job is to coordinate title structure with counsel, not to design the tax plan.
Control and cash flow are different levers. People who hold wealth carefully usually keep a hand on both.
Parent vehicle
The holding company
A holding company owns stakes in other companies rather than running day-to-day operations itself. It is a control and capital-allocation vehicle: it collects distributions, can sell stakes, may charge management fees, and can lend across the group.
In its simplest form, a holding company is a parent whose primary assets are equity interests in subsidiaries or portfolio companies. Berkshire Hathaway is a well-known public example of a diversified holding company. Many private families use quieter versions of the same idea. The holding company sits between owners and operating businesses. It can take majority or minority stakes. Majority stakes usually bring board control and the ability to set strategy. Minority stakes may still come with negotiated protections: information rights, tag-along rights on a sale, anti-dilution provisions, veto rights over major actions, and buyback or put arrangements.
Money moves in several ways. Operating companies may pay dividends or partnership-style distributions up to the holding company. The holding company may distribute cash to its own owners, retain it for new investments, or extend intercompany loans to subsidiaries. Management fees sometimes compensate the people who run the holding entity. When a stake is sold, proceeds may be recycled or distributed. Tax distributions (cash sent to owners specifically so they can pay taxes on pass-through income) are a common feature of privately held structures and should be discussed with a CPA, not assumed from a brochure.
None of this is a recommendation to form or invest in any particular holding company. It's a map of mechanisms you'll hear named in family-office and counsel meetings.
The play
If a holding company will fund the purchase, confirm the managers who can sign and wire before contract. Mismatched wiring instructions kill more deals than price ever does.
Key terms
- Distribution. A payment of cash or property from an entity to its owners.
- Intercompany loan. A loan between related entities within a corporate group.
- Tag-along rights. Contractual rights allowing minority owners to join a sale on similar terms.
- Anti-dilution. Protections that adjust ownership if new equity is issued on unfavorable terms.
- Tax distribution. Cash distributed to cover owners' tax liabilities on allocated income.
- Information rights. Contractual rights to receive financial and operating reports.
How it works
- Owners capitalize a holding company.
- The holding company acquires stakes in operating businesses.
- Subsidiaries generate earnings and send dividends or distributions upward.
- The holding company allocates capital, pays fees, services loans, and may distribute to owners.
- Stake sales recycle capital or return it to owners under the governing documents.
Example
Berkshire Hathaway is often cited in textbooks as an example public holding company that owns operating subsidiaries and marketable securities under a long-horizon capital allocator. Private family holding companies follow similar logic at smaller scale and without a public listing. The comparison is structural, not a recommendation of Berkshire Hathaway stock or any other security.
Where property fits
ManhattanSome families place residential real estate under a real-estate LLC that itself sits under a holding company or trust. Others keep the home outside the investment holding stack for lifestyle and liability reasons. Either way, the purchase contract, deposit wiring instructions, and title work must match the entity that will actually own the property, and that entity's managers must have authority to sign.
Think of a holding company as a switchboard for control and capital. Useful map. Not a product anyone is selling you here.
Coordination
The family office
A family office is a private organization that manages a family's financial and administrative life. Single-family offices serve one family. Multi-family offices serve several. Real estate is often one of their core desks.
As wealth concentrates, the coordination problem grows: investments across public and private markets, tax compliance, estate and trust administration, philanthropy, household staffing, security, travel, and property. A family office exists to professionalize that coordination. A single-family office (SFO) is captive to one family and tuned to its values and risk tolerance. A multi-family office (MFO) serves multiple unrelated families, often with shared investment platforms and a lower fixed cost per family.
Typical functions include portfolio construction and manager selection; tax planning and preparation coordination; estate and trust work with outside counsel; direct and fund investments; philanthropy and foundation administration; concierge and lifestyle services; cybersecurity and physical security; and real estate (acquisition, renovation oversight, leasing, and disposition). Decision rights vary. Some families give the office broad authority within an investment policy. Others require family principals to approve every major commitment, including residential purchases above a threshold.
For Manhattan buyers, the family office is frequently the gate that an offer must pass. That isn't bureaucracy for its own sake. It's how families keep residential purchases aligned with liquidity, liability, and succession plans. An independent buyer's advisor who understands that process can prepare materials the office actually needs: entity documents, proof of funds pathways, and a clear narrative of intended use (primary residence, pied-à-terre, or holding for family members).
Patience shows up here more than people admit. A home bought in a hurry can sit awkwardly against a family's longer story. The office's job, at its best, is to keep that story intact.
The play
Ask the office for its approval checklist on day one: entity, proof of funds, insurance, security. Build those days into your offer timeline so you do not bid like a cash buyer and then wait three weeks for a committee.
Key terms
- Single-family office (SFO). An office dedicated to one family's affairs.
- Multi-family office (MFO). An office serving multiple families, often with shared infrastructure.
- Investment policy statement. A written framework for risk, liquidity, and permitted investments.
- Principal. A family member with decision authority over the office's mandate.
- Concierge services. Non-investment support such as travel, staffing, and household management.
How it works
- Family capital and entities are inventoried.
- The office hires or contracts specialists (CIO, tax, counsel, real estate, security).
- An investment and governance policy sets boundaries.
- Day-to-day administration and reporting run through the office.
- Large commitments, including homes, follow an approval path to principals or a committee.
Example
ICONIQ Capital has been widely reported as a multi-family-style wealth platform associated with technology entrepreneurs. Many quieter single-family offices in New York never appear in the press at all. The point of the example is visibility of the model, not an endorsement of any manager.
Where property fits
ManhattanExpect a family-office sign-off cycle on $5M+ purchases: entity selection, cash-source confirmation, insurance, and sometimes a security review of the building or block. Townhouses, because they are discrete and private, often fit family-office preference for controlled access. Co-op applications may require additional narrative because boards scrutinize entity buyers. A calm, complete file shortens the path.
When a family office slows a purchase, it is usually protecting coherence with liquidity, liability, and succession. Rarely inventing friction for sport.
Decades, not quarters
Long-horizon institutions
Pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds hold capital for decades. They aren't family offices, but their ownership logic (who the money belongs to, what it must achieve, and what rules bind it) clarifies how institutional capital thinks about property and alternatives.
Long-horizon institutions pool other people's money under fiduciary or sovereign mandates. A public pension fund such as CalPERS (the California Public Employees' Retirement System) holds assets to pay retirement benefits to members. The beneficiaries are workers and retirees, and the goal is to meet liabilities over time under investment and funding rules. University endowments hold gifts and accumulated returns to support the institution in perpetuity. Yale's endowment approach under David Swensen became widely studied for its significant allocations to private equity, real assets, and other alternatives relative to a traditional stock-bond mix. That's an example of policy, not a template anyone should copy without advice. Sovereign wealth funds hold national savings or resource revenues for intergenerational or stabilization purposes. Their owners are states, and their rules are political as well as financial.
What they hold varies (public equities, fixed income, private equity, hedge funds, infrastructure, timber, and real estate), but the common thread is process: investment committees, consultants, pacing of private commitments, and liquidity management. Individuals rarely replicate these portfolios directly. Understanding them helps when a counterparty, co-investor, or building owner is institutional, and when family offices borrow language from endowment practice.
Institutions, in a sense, buy time. Families more often buy privacy. Both impulses are forms of discipline, just aimed at different goods.
| Dimension | Pension funds | Endowments | Sovereign wealth funds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns the money | Plan members / beneficiaries (held in trust) | The institution (for its mission) | The state / citizens (as defined by law) |
| Primary goal | Meet long-term benefit liabilities | Support perpetual institutional spending | Intergenerational savings, stabilization, or strategic aims |
| Typical holdings | Diversified public and private markets; real estate common | Often heavy in alternatives (varies by school) | Broad global portfolios; sometimes strategic domestic stakes |
| Binding rules | ERISA or public pension statutes; funding rules | Spending policies; donor restrictions; fiduciary duty | National law, political oversight, investment mandates |
| Liquidity needs | Benefit payments on a schedule | Annual spending rate plus opportunistic calls | Policy-dependent; can be patient or stabilization-driven |
The play
When the seller, sponsor, or neighboring owner is institutional, expect slower tempo and thicker paperwork. Ask your advisor who actually decides, and price that patience into the strategy.
Key terms
- Pension fund. A pool of assets dedicated to paying retirement benefits.
- Endowment. A permanent capital base supporting an institution's mission.
- Sovereign wealth fund. A state-owned investment vehicle funded by reserves or resource revenue.
- Fiduciary. A party legally obliged to act in beneficiaries' best interests.
- Alternatives. Asset classes beyond traditional public stocks and bonds, such as private equity and real estate.
How it works
- Capital is contributed under a mandate (pensions, gifts, sovereign surplus).
- A board or committee sets policy asset allocation.
- Staff and external managers implement within rules.
- Liquidity is managed against benefit payments, spending rates, or policy needs.
- Reporting and oversight close the loop.
Example
CalPERS is a frequently cited large U.S. public pension. Yale's endowment model is a frequently cited university approach associated with David Swensen. Both are examples of institutional design, not recommendations of any allocation or manager.
Where property fits
ManhattanInstitutional capital owns a meaningful share of New York commercial real estate through funds and REITs. Residential $5M+ sales are more often private-family affairs, but institutional ownership of a condo sponsor or neighboring commercial asset can affect building governance, amenities, and sales culture. Knowing whether your seller or board counterpart is institutional changes negotiation tempo.
Institutions often buy time with process. Families more often buy privacy with entities. Same appetite for order, different tools.
Liquidity and control
Public vs private ownership
Ownership sits on a spectrum from highly liquid public markets to illiquid direct stakes. Liquidity, control, and access trade off against one another. Accredited-investor rules gate some private offerings in the United States.
Public stock offers daily liquidity and transparent pricing, with limited direct control for ordinary shareholders. Mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) package diversified exposures with professional management and, for ETFs, intraday trading. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are companies that own or finance income-producing real estate and trade like stocks when listed. Vornado Realty Trust and SL Green Realty are familiar New York-focused examples of listed REIT platforms, named here as examples of the form, not as suggestions. Business development companies (BDCs) such as Ares Capital (again, example) invest in private middle-market companies and are structured for retail-accessible exposure to that lending and equity niche under their own regulatory framework. Listed private-equity managers offer public shares in the management companies that run private funds, which isn't the same as owning the funds' underlying portfolio.
On the private side, interval funds may offer limited periodic liquidity. Direct minority stakes in private companies and interests in private equity funds typically involve multi-year lockups, capital calls, and negotiated or fund-document governance. Access to many private offerings is limited to accredited investors or qualified purchasers under U.S. securities rules, a status based on income, net worth, or other regulatory tests. The concept matters because it shapes who can participate. It isn't advice to seek any particular investment.
Trade-offs are structural. More liquidity usually means less control and more mark-to-market volatility. More control usually means less liquidity and higher operational burden. Access constraints exist to match sophistication and loss-bearing capacity with complexity. They don't imply that private is superior to public.
The play
Treat the residence as an illiquid, high-control holding. Ask whether you need liquidity inside five years. If you might, condo usually outruns co-op on exit speed, and that should shape the search, not just the lifestyle pitch.
Key terms
- REIT. A company focused on real estate ownership or financing, often with pass-through tax treatment if rules are met.
- BDC. A closed-end vehicle that invests in private middle-market firms under a specific regulatory regime.
- Interval fund. A fund that offers to repurchase shares at set intervals rather than daily.
- Accredited investor. A regulatory category of investors permitted to participate in certain private offerings.
- Capital call. A demand that limited partners fund a committed amount to a private fund.
- Lockup. A period during which interests cannot be freely redeemed or sold.
How it works
- Choose the exposure (company, sector, real estate, credit, diversified).
- Choose the wrapper (direct stock, fund, REIT, BDC, private fund, direct stake).
- Accept the liquidity and control terms of that wrapper.
- Confirm eligibility (accreditation, suitability) with advisors where private markets apply.
- Monitor reporting: 1099s, K-1s, NAVs, and capital-account statements differ by wrapper.
Example
A listed NYC REIT such as Vornado or SL Green (example) gives liquid exposure to commercial property economics without owning a building deed. A private equity real-estate fund may offer less liquidity and more targeted control rights through the general partner. Neither path is recommended here. Both illustrate the liquidity-control spectrum.
Where property fits
ManhattanBuying a Manhattan residence is closer to a direct, illiquid, high-control holding than to buying REIT shares. You gain use value and discretion. You give up daily liquidity. Entity structure, building type (co-op vs condo vs townhouse), and financing terms define the practical control you actually have day to day.
More liquidity usually means less day-to-day control. More control usually means less liquidity. That trade is structural, not a moral scorecard.
Ask your CPA
How money comes out and how it's taxed
Cash leaves investments as dividends, distributions, or sale proceeds. Tax character (ordinary income, capital gain, or pass-through allocation) shapes timing and reporting. These are general concepts only. Ask your CPA for application to your facts.
Dividends are payments from a corporation to shareholders, often reported on Form 1099-DIV for U.S. taxpayers when paid by domestic corporations or certain intermediaries. Partnerships, LLCs taxed as partnerships, and S corporations typically issue Schedule K-1s, which allocate shares of income, gain, loss, and deduction whether or not cash was distributed. That mismatch (taxable income without a matching cash distribution) is often called phantom income. Pass-through entities are designed so that tax is paid at the owner level. The entity itself often pays little or no entity-level federal income tax if it qualifies. Capital gains generally arise when an asset is sold for more than its tax basis. Holding period and asset type affect rates and character under current law, which changes and should never be assumed from a general guide.
Distributions from partnerships may be tax-free to the extent of basis, taxable as gain beyond basis, or treated specially under complex rules. Again, that's territory for a CPA and tax counsel. International investors face withholding and treaty issues beyond this guide's scope. The practical habit for buyers is simple: before wiring earnest money through a new LLC, confirm with your CPA how that entity will report, who signs returns, and whether estimated taxes or tax distributions are needed if the entity holds other income-producing assets.
Agent Kammer does not provide tax advice. The vocabulary above exists so you can ask sharper questions.
The play
Sequence the CPA call before the contract. Confirm how the purchasing LLC (if any) will report, who signs returns, and whether estimated taxes or tax distributions are needed. Wiring earnest money into an entity you have not briefed is how quiet tax problems start.
Key terms
- Dividend. A corporate distribution to shareholders, often from earnings.
- Schedule K-1. The tax form reporting a partner's or S-corporation shareholder's share of items.
- Form 1099. Information returns reporting various payments (interest, dividends, proceeds, etc.).
- Phantom income. Taxable income allocated without a corresponding cash distribution.
- Basis. The tax measure of investment in an asset or partnership interest, used to compute gain and loss.
- Capital gain. Profit from sale of a capital asset, subject to character and holding-period rules.
How it works
- Identify the wrapper (C-corp stock, partnership interest, REIT share, fund interest).
- Identify the cash event (dividend, distribution, redemption, sale).
- Identify the tax form you should expect (1099, K-1, or other).
- Ask your CPA whether cash and taxable income will align in the year of purchase or sale.
- Budget for tax distributions or estimates if pass-through income is likely.
Example
An LLC that holds only a personal residence typically has little annual taxable income, but an LLC that also holds a rental or receives a K-1 from another investment can create filing and estimated-tax obligations. Example contrast only. Confirm with your CPA.
Where property fits
ManhattanResidential closings generate their own tax paperwork (transfer taxes, potential capital-gain planning on a later sale, 1031 considerations for investment property when applicable). Primary residences have distinct federal exclusion rules that counsel and CPAs apply to facts. Entity purchases add formation, EIN, and ongoing compliance steps that should be priced into the timeline before you bid.
Cash and taxable income are cousins, not twins. Ask your CPA which one just walked in.
The container
Where Manhattan property fits
In New York, the home is both a place to live and an asset sitting inside a legal container. LLC purchases, family-office approvals, co-op versus condo rules, townhouse privacy, and the role of an independent buyer's advisor all shape how that container works in practice.
Many $5M+ buyers take title in an LLC for liability separation and a measure of privacy on the public record. Privacy isn't absolute. Beneficial-ownership disclosure rules exist at federal and sometimes local levels and change over time. Counsel should confirm current requirements when an entity is formed or used. Trusts are also common, especially where estate plans already name trustees and beneficiaries. Wiring deposits and final funds must match the purchasing entity's accounts and authorized signers.
Family offices often run an internal approval: investment or principal committee, insurance, and sometimes security. Build that into the offer timeline. Co-operative apartments frequently restrict or heavily condition purchases by LLCs, trusts, or other entities. Boards may require personal guarantees, interviews with beneficial owners, and financial disclosure that feels invasive by design. Condominiums generally allow entity purchasers more readily, subject to the offering plan and board packages. Townhouses (fee-simple houses) offer maximum privacy and control of the physical asset, with corresponding responsibility for facade, roof, and systems. They suit buyers who want a discrete holding rather than a building governed by a board.
Developer sales teams represent the seller's interest. An independent buyer's advisor represents the buyer's interest: comparables, negotiation, due diligence coordination, and quiet handling of entity and family-office process. That distinction matters most at the top of the market, where information asymmetry is expensive.
Belonging, here, is practical. You want a home you can actually inhabit inside a structure your advisors can still defend a decade from now.
The play
If you want an LLC on title, ask the listing side early whether the co-op board accepts entity buyers, and on what terms (guarantees, interviews, financials). Condos and townhouses usually flex more. Do not discover the board's answer after you have fallen for the apartment.
Key terms
- Beneficial-ownership disclosure. Rules requiring identification of natural persons who ultimately own or control an entity.
- Co-op. A building owned by a corporation; buyers purchase shares and a proprietary lease.
- Condo. Individually owned units plus shared common elements under a condominium regime.
- Townhouse. Typically a single-family house on its own lot, often with greater privacy and maintenance burden.
- Board package. The financial and personal disclosure packet submitted for co-op or condo approval.
- Independent buyer's advisor. A representative working for the buyer, not the developer or listing side.
How it works
- Decide intended use and who will live in the home.
- With counsel, choose title vehicle (individual, trust, LLC) and confirm disclosure obligations.
- Align family-office or principal approval and proof-of-funds path.
- Match building type to entity reality (co-op restrictions vs condo/townhouse flexibility).
- Negotiate and diligence with an advisor accountable to the buyer; close into the planned container.
Example
A family office may approve a condo purchase in an LLC within two weeks, while the same family's co-op attempt stalls because the board rejects entity ownership without a personal guarantee from a principal who prefers not to be on the lease. The pattern is common. Outcomes always depend on the specific building.
Where property fits
ManhattanThis entire section *is* where property fits. The educational point is operational: structure, building type, and representation determine whether a sophisticated buyer can actually complete the life they're trying to buy. Agent Kammer's role is buyer intelligence and representation in that process, not tax, legal, or investment advice.
Live where you belong. Hold title in a way your advisors can still defend a decade from now.
Vocabulary
Glossary
Short definitions for terms used in this guide. Confirm application to your facts with counsel and a CPA.
- Accredited investor
- A person or entity meeting regulatory wealth or income tests for access to certain private offerings.
- Alternatives
- Investments outside traditional public stocks and bonds, including private equity and real estate.
- Anti-dilution
- Contractual protection adjusting ownership if new equity issues on dilutive terms.
- Basis
- Tax measure of investment in an asset or interest, used to compute gain or loss.
- BDC (business development company)
- A regulated vehicle investing primarily in private middle-market companies.
- Beneficial owner
- The natural person who ultimately owns or controls an asset or entity.
- Board package
- Disclosure materials submitted to a co-op or condo board for purchase approval.
- Capital call
- A private fund's demand that investors fund part of their commitment.
- Capital gain
- Profit realized on sale of a capital asset, subject to character rules.
- Co-op
- Housing corporation in which buyers own shares plus a proprietary lease.
- Condo
- Form of ownership of an individual unit plus interest in common elements.
- Distribution
- Transfer of cash or property from an entity to its owners.
- Dividend
- Corporate payment to shareholders, often from earnings and profits.
- Endowment
- Permanent capital supporting an institution's mission over time.
- Family office
- Private organization managing a family's wealth and administration.
- Fiduciary
- Party legally obligated to act in another's best interests.
- Holding company
- Entity whose main assets are ownership stakes in other companies.
- Information rights
- Contractual rights to receive financial and operating information.
- Intercompany loan
- Lending between related entities in a corporate group.
- Interval fund
- Fund offering limited repurchases at scheduled intervals.
- K-1 (Schedule K-1)
- Tax schedule reporting pass-through allocations to owners.
- LLC
- Limited liability company; flexible entity often used to hold assets.
- Lockup
- Period restricting sale or redemption of an interest.
- Multi-family office (MFO)
- Office serving more than one family.
- Operating company
- Business that produces goods or services.
- Pass-through entity
- Entity whose income is taxed primarily at owner level.
- Pension fund
- Asset pool dedicated to retirement benefit payments.
- Phantom income
- Taxable allocation without matching cash distribution.
- REIT
- Real estate investment trust; company focused on real estate assets or mortgages.
- Single-family office (SFO)
- Office dedicated to one family's affairs.
- Sovereign wealth fund
- State-owned investment fund.
- Tag-along rights
- Rights allowing minorities to join a sale on comparable terms.
- Tax distribution
- Cash distributed to help owners pay taxes on allocated income.
- Title
- Legal ownership of property.
- Townhouse
- Single-family house, typically with private ownership of the structure and lot.
- Trust
- Arrangement in which a trustee holds assets for beneficiaries.
- 1099
- Family of IRS information returns reporting various payments to taxpayers.
Read this
Disclaimer and disclosures
This field guide is educational. It isn't a substitute for advice from your own professionals.
- Educational only. Not investment, tax, or legal advice. Agent Kammer is a licensed real estate salesperson, not a financial advisor. Consult your own advisors.
- Nothing in this document is an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security, fund interest, or other financial instrument. Institutions and companies named (including, without limitation, Berkshire Hathaway, CalPERS, Meta Platforms, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, ICONIQ Capital, Vornado, SL Green, Ares Capital, and Yale University's endowment in connection with David Swensen's widely discussed approach) appear solely as examples of structures or public facts that have been widely reported. Their mention is not a recommendation, endorsement, or suggestion to invest, engage, or emulate.
- Real estate brokerage services, if any, are offered only where properly licensed. Property purchases involve legal, tax, and financial consequences that depend on personal circumstances. Beneficial-ownership, transfer-tax, co-op, and condominium rules change. Verify current requirements with counsel.
How it works
- Read for vocabulary and pattern recognition.
- Bring questions to your attorney, CPA, and family office.
- Do not treat examples as recommendations.
- Confirm all entity, tax, and building rules before you bid.
Example
A reader who uses this glossary in a meeting with counsel is using the guide correctly. A reader who reallocates a portfolio because a section mentioned REITs or BDCs is using it incorrectly.
Where property fits
Briefing toolIf you are evaluating a Manhattan purchase, use this guide to brief your advisors and to brief your buyer's representative on constraints, not as a substitute for either.
Discretion begins with knowing what you aren't being told to do.