DPI, TVPI and RVPI
Definition
DPI, RVPI and TVPI are the three multiples used to report a private fund's performance relative to the capital investors have paid in. DPI, distributions to paid-in capital, is the cash returned to investors divided by the cash they contributed; it is the only one of the three that is realized. RVPI, residual value to paid-in, is the manager's current valuation of the unrealized portfolio divided by paid-in capital. TVPI, total value to paid-in, is the sum of the two: everything investors have received plus everything the manager says is still there, per dollar contributed. All three are stated net of fees and carry in institutional reporting, and all three ignore time, which is why they are read alongside IRR.
Why it matters
A private fund's headline return is usually a TVPI or an IRR, and both rest on the manager's own valuation of what has not been sold. DPI is the part of the story that is settled. On any platform performance page the first question is what share of the reported value is DPI; on a fund past its investment period a low DPI beside a high TVPI is a valuation the market has not yet tested. AltStreet's own exit data on platforms like Masterworks and Rally is built around realized outcomes for the same reason: a multiple on a sold asset is a fact, a multiple on a held one is an opinion.
Common misconceptions
- •TVPI is not a return investors have received. It includes RVPI, the manager's estimate of unrealized value, which can be revised down and is not available to withdraw.
- •A TVPI below 1.0x in the first years does not mean the fund is losing money. Fees are charged from the start and investments are held at cost until they are marked up; the J-curve is the expected early shape.
- •Paid-in capital is not committed capital. An investor who has committed $1 million and been called for $600,000 has $600,000 of paid-in capital; the multiples are per dollar actually contributed.
- •Multiples are not comparable across vintages or strategies without adjustment. A 1.4x TVPI can be top quartile for a 2022 buyout fund and bottom quartile for a 2012 one.
Technical details
The formulas
DPI = cumulative distributions to investors, divided by cumulative paid-in capital.
RVPI = net asset value of the investors' remaining interest (residual value), divided by cumulative paid-in capital.
TVPI = (cumulative distributions plus residual value), divided by cumulative paid-in capital, which equals DPI plus RVPI.
PIC ratio = paid-in capital divided by committed capital; tells you how much of the commitment has been drawn.
Recallable distributions (capital returned early that the fund may call again) are usually excluded from DPI and from paid-in capital; the fund's reporting notes state the treatment.
Worked example
An investor commits $1,000,000. The fund has called $900,000 (PIC 90 percent), distributed $600,000 in cash, and reports the investor's remaining interest at $750,000.
DPI = 600,000 / 900,000 = 0.67x. RVPI = 750,000 / 900,000 = 0.83x. TVPI = 1.50x.
If the remaining portfolio is later sold for $500,000 rather than $750,000, DPI ends at 1.22x and TVPI at 1.22x. If it is sold for $1,000,000, both end at 1.78x. The 0.83x of RVPI is the range in which the final answer lives.
Typical shape over a fund's life
Years one to three: PIC rises toward 60 to 80 percent; DPI near zero; TVPI often 0.85x to 1.05x as fees and early marks offset.
Years four to six: TVPI climbs with markups; first realizations lift DPI to 0.2x to 0.6x.
Years seven to ten: DPI passes 1.0x in a successful buyout fund; RVPI falls as the portfolio is sold.
Extension years: RVPI drifts toward zero; TVPI converges on DPI.
Funds that fail to exit show the opposite: RVPI stays high, DPI stalls, and TVPI depends entirely on marks.
Reading platform performance pages
Look for the word net and for the date of the residual value. A multiple without a valuation date is a marketing figure.
Ask what share of TVPI is DPI. Above 50 percent in a fund past year six is ordinary; below 25 percent invites a question about the marks.
Access funds and feeders report the master fund's multiples adjusted for the feeder's own fees; the feeder's net figure should be lower than the master fund's by roughly the feeder's fee drag.
Registered vehicles (interval funds, BDCs) report total return rather than multiples; the equivalent check is the share of distributions funded by income versus return of capital.
Related measures
MOIC (multiple on invested capital) is the deal-level cousin: proceeds divided by cost, often gross.
IRR adds time; a fund's IRR and TVPI together describe both the size and speed of returns, and PME (public market equivalent) compares them to a listed index over the same cash-flow dates.
Loss ratio: the share of invested capital in deals realized below cost, a useful companion to a venture fund's TVPI.
Frequently asked questions
- What do DPI, RVPI and TVPI stand for?
- Distributions to paid-in capital, residual value to paid-in capital, and total value to paid-in capital. Paid-in capital is the cash investors have actually contributed to the fund (not the amount committed). DPI counts cash returned, RVPI counts the unrealized portfolio at the manager's valuation, and TVPI adds them. A fund with DPI 0.6x and RVPI 0.9x has TVPI 1.5x: investors have 60 cents back in cash and the manager values what is left at 90 cents, per dollar in.
- Which multiple matters most?
- DPI, because it is the only one that cannot be revised. RVPI and therefore TVPI depend on the manager's marks, which are quarterly estimates and can fall. Investors in mature funds increasingly judge managers on DPI, and the phrase DPI is the new IRR became common after 2022 when exits slowed and unrealized marks stayed high. A fund that reports a 2.0x TVPI with 0.3x DPI in year eight has returned little cash.
- What is a good TVPI or DPI?
- It depends on the fund's age and strategy. Buyout funds have historically reached about 1.0x DPI around year six to eight and ended with 1.6x to 2.0x TVPI for median performance; venture funds take longer and have wider dispersion. Any comparison should be with funds of the same vintage year and strategy, because a 1.3x TVPI is strong in year three and weak in year ten.
- How do the multiples change over the life of a fund?
- TVPI starts below 1.0x because fees are charged before investments appreciate (the J-curve), climbs as the portfolio is marked up, and stabilizes as investments are sold. DPI starts at zero and rises with each realization; RVPI rises then falls toward zero as the portfolio liquidates. At final liquidation RVPI is zero and TVPI equals DPI.
- Are the multiples net or gross?
- Institutional reporting is net of management fees, expenses and carried interest, which is what investors actually receive. Managers sometimes quote gross multiples on individual deals or on the portfolio before fees; a net TVPI is typically 0.2x to 0.4x below the gross figure on a successful fund. Any performance page that does not say net should be read as gross until confirmed.
- Why do platforms show IRR rather than multiples?
- Because IRR is a single percentage that looks comparable to public returns, and because early in a fund's life IRR can look high while the multiple is close to 1.0x. Multiples and IRR answer different questions: how much, and how fast. A 1.5x over two years is a 22 percent IRR; a 1.5x over eight years is 5 percent. The MOIC vs IRR page covers the arithmetic.