I'm going to side-track a bit, but since I'm being courted by PE I thought I'd ask.

>> The employees of the PE also co-invest

Is this voluntary, or mandatory?

I ask because I've seen clauses along the lines of "75% of bonuses are paid in shares, not available for sale for 5 years."

Using bonus money to buy shares props up the share price, but delays the employee actually seeing the bonus for 5 years. Seems pretty win-lose to me, and kinda puts me off.

Is this a standard practice you mean by co-invest?

(As an aside, I'm not a fan of buying shares where I work, that's not a good portfolio-diversification model. If the business goes under it's not good to lose both your job, and investments, on the same day.)