Guide · Strategy
The Capital Stack
Placement agent vs database vs integrated platform, real costs, honest trade-offs.
Every sponsor raising real-asset capital faces the same question: how do you reach the right lenders and investors, and what does each route cost? Three live options.
The placement agent
Raises through a personal network for 2–3% of the raise, a 15–25K monthly retainer, plus tail fees on re-ups for years. Worth it for a large first-time equity raise with no network.
Trade-offs
- Serves funds above ~100m; below that threshold you are not prioritised
- A black box — you do not see the LP list or the pipeline in real time
- Equity-only; most agents have no debt coverage
- Tail fees compound — you keep paying on capital that returns to you anyway
Read more: Do You Still Need a Placement Agent?
The generic database
Preqin, Pitchbook and similar tools offer static lists for 5–30K a year. Names and titles only. No live appetite, no debt scoring, no timing intelligence, no warm paths. You export a spreadsheet and do the rest yourself.
Trade-offs
- Data freshness varies; many contacts are outdated
- No scoring — every name looks equally relevant
- Debt coverage is thin or missing entirely
The integrated platform
GPX matches debt and equity from one document. 2,592 appetite-scored lenders. 37,383 investors. 12,000+ mandates. Warm-path mapping, from 290/month. No placement or tail fees.
Trade-offs
- It is a tool, not a person — it gives the scored shortlist, briefs and drafts, and you run the relationships
- Requires sponsor input: a teaser, IM or one-line brief to match against
Comparison at a glance
The honest answer is that each route has a place. A placement agent earns its fee when you have no network and a large equity target. A database is useful for raw lists if you have the time to qualify manually. An integrated platform replaces both when you need debt and equity coverage, live intelligence, and you want to keep every basis point on re-ups.
See which route fits your next raise
Put a live deal in front of the GPX engine and see ranked, briefed capital — debt and equity — in minutes.