Typically companies will send out a brief quarterly report to investors with a more detailed report with financials sent once per year.
In an equity transaction investors profit from the investment the same way the owners do - by sharing in the profit of the company. Equity investors can exit via several options: company buy-back of stock, IPO, merger, private sale of the securities to another investor, listing on OTC, etc.
In a debt transaction investors receive their annual return based on the note agreement - and exit with their principal when the maturity date on the note is reached.
