How to write a quarterly LP update (with a template)

What every quarterly update should include

• Fund summary: committed, called and distributed capital, and how much is left to deploy.
• Performance: TVPI, DPI and net IRR, and what changed since last quarter.
• New investments and follow-ons, each in two or three lines: what the company does and why you invested.
• Portfolio highlights and lowlights: rounds raised, exits, write-downs, and companies that need attention.
• Valuation changes, with the basis for each (a priced round, a secondary, a write-down policy).
• What is coming next quarter: expected capital calls, reserves, and the fund’s own fundraising if relevant.

A template you can copy

• 1. Headline: one paragraph with the quarter in a sentence and the three numbers that matter.
• 2. Fund at a glance: commitments, called, distributed, NAV, TVPI, DPI, net IRR.
• 3. New and follow-on investments.
• 4. Portfolio update: one line per company, grouped by on track / needs attention / written down.
• 5. Valuation changes and their basis.
• 6. Outlook and asks: introductions, hires or customers you would value help with.

What LPs skip

Long market commentary, logo walls and adjectives. Put detail in an appendix and keep the first page to numbers and changes.

Keep a record of what you sent

When an LP asks in two years what you reported in Q3, you should be able to show them exactly that report, not today’s recalculated numbers. Keep a frozen copy of each update.

How Foliant helps

Foliant builds LP reports from your live portfolio data, so the numbers match your book, and freezes each report when you send it. It can also draft the covering email to each LP for you to approve, and send it from your own Gmail or Outlook.

Questions