Comparto vs investment fund

A traditional investment fund (a SICAV, a regulated FCP, an alternative investment fund) is built to raise capital continuously, from multiple investors, around a strategy that may evolve over time. Setting one up involves regulatory authorisation or registration, an appointed manager, a documented investment policy and permanent governance.

A Comparto answers a different need: giving investable form to one specific transaction or strategy, without building the full regulatory apparatus of a fund. Each Comparto is an issuance dedicated to a transaction, not a vehicle for continuous fundraising.

Time to launch illustrates the difference: a fund generally takes six to twelve months between project start and first subscription. A Comparto is operational in two to four weeks.

Cost follows the same logic: a fund carries authorisation, governance (board, depositary, auditor) and day-to-day management costs that exist regardless of how much is raised. A Comparto adds no such layer: its cost is sized to a transaction, not to a permanent structure.

This does not mean a Comparto replaces a fund in every case: a manager who wants to raise continuously, with a flexible investment policy and recurring subscriptions and redemptions, is better served by structuring a genuine fund. A Comparto is the right answer when the goal is to make one specific transaction or strategy investable quickly, without building — or paying for — a fund's infrastructure for a single deal.