A hard hurdle rate means that incentive fees are earned only on returns in excess of the benchmark.  A soft hurdle rate means that incentive fees are paid on all profits, but only if the hurdle rate is met.   
也就是说计提激励奖金的基数不一样：soft hurdle rate的意思是假设收益率高于8%，那么全部的利润将按照一定比例计提激励金；而如果是hard hurdle rate是8%，那么就只是就高于8%的部分计提激励奖金。