What Frogmore Burials Are
Frogmore burials refer to structured investment or credit arrangements associated with the Frogmore portfolio, which is managed by Cazenove Capital Management, part of Schroders, and linked to real estate and credit strategies. These arrangements often involve layered tranches of debt or equity-like instruments designed to absorb initial losses, with senior positions receiving priority in cash flows and exit proceeds. The term is used in private markets to describe situations where capital is deployed in a way that prioritizes certain stakeholders over others, similar to waterfall structures in private equity and real estate funds. This overview explains how waterfall mechanics apply to such layered investments.
In practice, frogmore-style structures can appear in private credit, real estate, and special situations vehicles where sponsors seek to align incentives between capital providers and management. They often involve co-investment rights, preferred return hurdles, and catch-up provisions that determine how distributions are allocated. The specific terms depend on the fund documentation, side letters, and the nature of the underlying assets, which may include direct lending, real estate development, or distressed assets. The SEC provides guidance on how private fund structures can affect investor protections.
Key Risks and Regulatory Context
Frogmore burials carry risks related to illiquidity, concentration, and the complexity of the waterfall provisions, which can make it difficult for investors to predict timing and amounts of distributions. Loss absorption by junior tranches means that investors in those layers may face partial or total capital impairment if underlying assets underperform or exit events are delayed. Valuation uncertainty is another concern, particularly when assets are privately held or subject to limited market comparables. Forbes analysis details the risk-return profile of private credit strategies.
Regulatory oversight for such structures depends on the jurisdiction and the type of fund vehicle, with oversight bodies including the SEC in the United States and the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom. Disclosure requirements, reporting standards, and fiduciary duties apply to fund managers, but the level of transparency can vary significantly across private market vehicles. Investors should review fund offering documents, side letters, and management agreements to understand governance, fee structures, and exit mechanics. The SEC outlines registration and reporting obligations for investment companies.
How Frogmore Burials Fit into Broader Capital Structures
Frogmore burials are part of a broader trend toward bespoke capital solutions in private markets, where sponsors design structures to meet specific risk-return objectives for limited partners and co-investors. These arrangements often sit alongside traditional fund structures, co-investment vehicles, and secondary transactions, creating a complex ecosystem of interdependent claims on underlying assets. Understanding the hierarchy of claims, governance rights, and liquidity provisions is essential for institutional and high-net-worth investors evaluating such opportunities.
Asset managers including Schroders, Blackstone, KKR, and Apollo offer comparable layered structures in their private credit and real estate platforms, with variations in fee arrangements, hurdle rates, and distribution waterfalls. The performance of these strategies is influenced by macroeconomic conditions, interest rate environments, and the availability of exit opportunities in the relevant asset classes. Investors often use internal rate of return, multiple on invested capital