Limited partners
How should an LP investigate unrealized valuations at a venture fund of funds?
a venture fund of funds: Investigate unrealized values through the policy, valuation date, evidence, and review process.
Investigate unrealized values through the policy, valuation date, evidence, and review process. A recent financing price may be informative without resolving every valuation question. Distinguish investment cost, company valuation, ownership, and the carrying value reported by the fund.
Start with the decision
Request the valuation policy, changes in method, relevant transaction evidence, and the review responsibilities. Reconcile the schedule to the report where authorized. Use qualified valuation and accounting specialists for formal conclusions.
The illustrative scenario
This is an educational workbook. The company or fund and all numerical inputs below are fictional. They are not ADIN results, customer claims, market benchmarks, or a forecast.
The fictional vehicle commits capital to several underlying venture funds. Its LP receives exposure through another layer of manager selection, reporting, fees, and cash flows. Several underlying funds may invest in the same companies.
A count of fund commitments is not a count of independent company exposures. Separate the vehicle's economics from the economics, liquidity, and concentration of underlying holdings.
Separate distributed cash from remaining value
Use a single fictional reporting date and a simplified common denominator of $45,000,000.00 paid in. Cash distributions are $10,000,000.00 and the assumed remaining value is $53,000,000.00. These invented values are not ADIN performance, peer benchmarks, or a return forecast.
Under those definitions, the total multiple is the sum of the distributed and remaining-value multiples. A revision to remaining value changes RVPI and TVPI without changing the cash already distributed. Ask whether a real report uses gross or net figures, what fees and carry are included, and how adjustments or recycling affect its definitions.
This table does not calculate IRR: there are no dated cash flows from which to do so. Identical multiples can coexist with different timing and different uncertainty. Compare total exposure and costs across both layers. Keep the vehicle's distributions distinct from paper values reported by underlying managers. Reconcile actual metrics to the applicable reports and methodology with the relevant accounting or performance specialist.
| Item | Illustration |
|---|---|
| Fictional paid-in capital | $45,000,000.00 |
| Fictional distributions | $10,000,000.00 |
| Assumed remaining value | $53,000,000.00 |
| DPI: distributions / paid-in | 0.22× |
| RVPI: remaining value / paid-in | 1.18× |
| TVPI: total value / paid-in | 1.40× |
Use this worksheet
Answer the questions with a source, date, owner, and next action. Mark an unknown as unknown. Use public or permissioned information and involve a qualified specialist when a question requires expertise beyond the team’s competence.
- What method is used?
- What date applies?
- What evidence supports the mark?
- Who reviews it?
- What could cause a revision?
Questions specific to this scenario
- Where do fees arise at each layer?
- Which companies overlap?
- How are underlying reporting delays handled?
Request a look-through portfolio summary, fee-layer explanation, underlying cash-flow schedule, and the method used to reconcile reports. Identify missing or delayed underlying information.
A concrete next test
Trace one hypothetical company exposure through two underlying funds and the investing vehicle. Ask where fees, valuation dates, cash flows, and information delays enter each layer. Count the shared exposure once for analysis instead of treating two fund names as independent company diversification.
Interpret the result
Unrealized value is not cash distributed to LPs. An upward mark can affect reported metrics while leaving liquidity and eventual proceeds uncertain, so examine both the number and the process behind it.
Compare total exposure and costs across both layers. Keep the vehicle's distributions distinct from paper values reported by underlying managers.
Sources and method
These primary resources provide background for the concepts. The fictional scenario, calculations, and worksheet are ADIN educational examples; the sources do not report or validate those invented results. Reviewed October 11, 2026.