“distribution waterfall”属于私募股权基金行业术语，是一种分配机制。Waterfall即瀑布，因此，“distribution waterfall”即瀑布型收益分配机制，指私募股权投资基金的利润在基金管理人和投资者之间分配的先后顺序的一种机制。投资百科中对其的解释如下：“A distribution waterfall describes the method by which capital is distributed to a fund's various investors as underlying investments are sold for gains. Essentially, the total capital gains earned are distributed according to a cascading structure made up of sequential tiers, hence the reference to a waterfall. When one tier's allocation requirements are fully satisfied, the excess funds are then subject to the allocation requirements of the next tier, and so on.”。

在“distribution waterfall”这一分配结构中，通常包括四层结构。

第一层就是返还出资额Return of capital。返还投资者的出资额，直到他们收回所有原始总投资。100 percent of distributions go to the investors until they recover all of their initial capital contributions。第二层是优先回报分配Preferred return。通常是向投资者分配直到投资者获得约定的投资回报。一般来说，优先回报率为7%—9%。 100 percent of further distributions go to investors until they receive the preferred return on their investment. Usually, the preferred rate of return for this tier is approximately 7 percent to 9 percent。第三层是追赶收益Catch-up tranche。通常是向基金管理人分配直到基金管理人收到一定比例的回报。 100 percent of the distributions go to the sponsor of the fund until it receives a certain percentage of profits。第四层一般是绩效分成或附带权益carried interest。通常在有限合伙协议中会约定基金管理人和投资者对于盈利的分成比例。第三层中所约定的比例应当是与第四层中的约定的分成比例相匹配。 a stated percentage of distributions that the sponsor receives. The stated percentage in the fourth tier must match the stated percentage in the third tier。

以下为相关双语示例，供参考：

Usually, the general partners receive a disproportionately larger share of the total profits relative to their initial investment once the allocation process is complete. This is done to incentivize the fund's general partner to maximize profitability for its investors.

通常，一旦完成分配后，普通合伙人在其初始投资所获得的总利润中所占的份额就会远远增加。这一做法是为了激励基金的普通合伙人将投资者的利润最大化。