Question about 2/20

Quick question about the 2/20 rule... Question first and then background of why I'm asking.

Q: it seems as though waterfalls do not exist in PE, is this correct? why is this structure preferred?

I understand the concept of the 2/20 rule, but coming from a RE background, there's something i can't wrap my head around. In real estate, there are hurdles to meet and cash flows through a 'waterfall'. For example: the GP gets their pro rata share of returns up to 10%, they get 25% of the returns that fall between 10-15% and 50% of the returns greater than 15%. it's called meeting your prefs or meeting your hurdles.

It seems as though the waterfall structure does not exist in PE and the GP gets a straight 20% return of the profits. This can be a double edged sword for the PE firm, but obviously it depends on several inputs and assumptions.

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