TVPI Benchmarks by Vintage Year and Strategy
Approximate median TVPI by fund strategy and vintage (net to LPs)
| Vintage Year | Buyout | Growth Equity | Venture Capital |
|---|
What Is TVPI?
TVPI stands for Total Value to Paid-In Capital. It measures the total value a fund has generated (both realized and unrealized) relative to the capital LPs have contributed. A fund with a TVPI of 2.0x has generated twice the total value of its paid-in capital, though some of that value may still be locked in portfolio companies.
TVPI is one of the three core fund multiples, alongside DPI (realized returns only) and RVPI (unrealized returns only). The relationship is simple: TVPI = DPI + RVPI.
TVPI vs DPI vs RVPI
DPI (Distributions to Paid-In Capital) counts only cash that has been sent back to LPs. It is the "cash-on-cash" multiple. A DPI of 1.0x means LPs have their money back. Anything above that is realized profit.
RVPI (Residual Value to Paid-In Capital) captures the remaining NAV of unrealized investments. This is the GP's estimate of what the portfolio is still worth, based on the most recent valuations. RVPI is inherently subjective because it depends on how portfolio companies are marked.
TVPI combines both. It gives the complete picture, but with a caveat: the RVPI component is only as reliable as the underlying valuations. A TVPI driven mostly by RVPI should be interpreted differently than one driven mostly by DPI.
Why TVPI Can Be Misleading for Young Funds
A fund in its second or third year might show a TVPI of 1.5x, but nearly all of that value sits in unrealized holdings. The DPI is close to zero. This does not mean the fund is performing well. It means the GP has marked up its portfolio, which is a forecast, not a result.
Markups can reverse. The 2021 and 2022 vintages demonstrated this vividly, as many growth and venture funds showed strong TVPIs during the bull market only to see significant NAV writedowns in the following years. LPs learned (again) that TVPI without DPI is a promise, not a performance metric.
For mature funds (vintage years 7 and older), TVPI becomes more meaningful because a larger share of value has been converted to distributions. At that stage, TVPI and DPI tend to converge.
How LPs Evaluate TVPI
Sophisticated LPs look at TVPI in context. They compare it against the fund's age, strategy, and the ratio of DPI to RVPI. A buyout fund with a 1.8x TVPI that is 70% realized (DPI of 1.26x) tells a very different story than a venture fund with a 2.5x TVPI that is 90% unrealized.
LPs also benchmark TVPI against vintage-year peers. A 1.5x TVPI for a 2017 buyout fund might be median, while the same multiple for a 2020 growth equity fund could be top-quartile, depending on the market environment those funds deployed into.
During re-ups (follow-on fund commitments), LPs increasingly ask for DPI alongside TVPI. The question is no longer just "what is your multiple?" but "how much of that multiple is real?"
Methodology
This calculator uses the standard TVPI formula:
It also breaks TVPI into its two components:
The realized percentage shows what fraction of total value has already been distributed as cash. A higher realized percentage indicates a more mature or actively harvested portfolio.
Benchmarks in the reference table are approximate medians based on publicly available industry data. They vary by reporting date, geography, and data source. For vintage-specific comparisons, refer to Cambridge Associates, Preqin, or Burgiss datasets.
See also our DPI calculator, MOIC to IRR calculator, and TVPI glossary entry.
This calculator is for illustrative purposes only. Actual fund performance is subject to fees, carry, timing of cash flows, and other factors not captured here.
