In recent years, fund managers have had the upper hand in setting fund terms favourable to general partners over limited partners. This is to say the private equity deal makers over the funders of the capital.

According to alternative data information provider Preqin, following the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), yield-hungry investors poured large sums into private capital funds, helping to drive total assets under management to $6.96 trillion as of September 2019. This search for yield tipped the balance of power toward fund managers (GPs).

But in the wake of COVID-19, the global economic outlook is grim. Ear...