What is TVPI (total value to paid-in)? Definition, how it works and examples
A fund’s scorecard in one number — what has been paid back plus what is still on paper, per dollar paid in — and how to tell the two halves apart.
The short answer
What is TVPI? Total value to paid-in is a fund’s distributions to investors plus the value of everything it still holds, divided by the capital investors have actually paid in. A TVPI of 1.8x means each dollar paid in is now worth $1.80 — part of it returned in cash, part of it still a valuation. The split is what matters. TVPI is the sum of DPI, the cash already distributed, and RVPI, the value still on paper. Two funds with the same TVPI can be in opposite positions: one has paid you back, the other has not yet sold anything.
What is TVPI in finance? The formula and its two halves
The definitions used across the industry are the ones in the CFA Institute’s GIPS standards: TVPI, the “investment multiple”, is total value divided by since-inception paid-in capital, and total value is residual value plus distributions (GIPS 2020). Written out: TVPI = (cumulative distributions + residual value) ÷ paid-in capital. Because both parts share one denominator, TVPI = DPI + RVPI exactly. DPI Distributions to paid-in — the realisation multiple. Cash, or shares, actually sent to investors, per dollar paid in. RVPI Residual value to paid-in — the unrealised multiple.
What is TVPI in private equity? Net, fund-level, since inception
In private equity, TVPI is the investor’s multiple. It is measured on the cash flows between the fund and its investors, so it comes after management fees, fund expenses and carry. ILPA’s standard performance template, for funds starting on or after 1 January 2026, puts net IRR and net TVPI at the top of the fund-level table, and shows them twice: with and without the effect of the fund’s subscription credit line (ILPA, 2025). That is the line between TVPI and MOIC. MOIC is reported deal by deal, between the fund and its investments, and usually gross.
A fund’s TVPI over its life, and the J-curve
A fund with $100M of commitments calls capital over five years, holds companies at fair value, and sells them in years five to eleven. Here is how its multiples move. Year one is the J-curve: TVPI below 1.0x because fees and expenses are paid from the first capital called while the companies are still held at roughly cost. It climbs as values rise, and from year eight to year eleven it does not move at all — yet those are the years the investor is actually paid, as RVPI turns into DPI. A TVPI that stays flat while DPI rises is a fund doing its job.
What is TVPI in venture capital (VC)?
What is TVPI in VC specifically? The same ratio, with a longer paper phase. Venture funds hold private companies for years, mark them on rounds and secondary trades, and distribute only when those companies list or are sold. So VC TVPI is mostly RVPI for most of a fund’s life. Carta’s Q2 2026 data shows how far apart the halves can sit. In the 2017 vintage, the top-decile TVPI rose to 4.14x from 3.31x two years earlier, while the top-decile IRR fell to 25.7% from 28.7% — the values were growing, but more slowly than the clock.
What is a good TVPI?
There is no fixed number. A TVPI is good or bad only against funds of the same vintage year and strategy, measured at the same age, because every fund passes through the J-curve and a five-year-old fund cannot be compared with a twelve-year-old one. Below 1.0x after the early years means investors have lost money on paper after fees. Same vintage, same strategy Compare against peers that started in the same year and invest the same way — a quartile ranking, not a single threshold. Read it with DPI A high TVPI with a low DPI is a promise. The older the fund, the more of its TVPI should be DPI.
TVPI definitions and reporting standards, as of October 2026
Common mistakes when reading a TVPI
Reading TVPI without DPI The same 2.0x can be cash in hand or entirely marks. Judging a young fund In the first years a TVPI below 1.0x is the J-curve, not a verdict. Comparing across vintages A 2017 fund and a 2022 fund are at different points of their lives. Dividing by commitments The denominator is paid-in. Uncalled capital is not in it. Treating TVPI as a deal multiple Deal-level results are MOIC, usually gross. TVPI is the whole fund, net. Ignoring time TVPI is time-neutral. Read IRR for the speed.
The terms this page uses
TVPI Total value to paid-in: distributions plus residual value, over the capital investors have paid in. DPI Distributions to paid-in: cash or shares actually returned, per dollar paid in. RVPI Residual value to paid-in: the fund’s remaining net asset value, per dollar paid in. Paid-in capital What investors have actually contributed to date, as opposed to what they committed. Capital call A fund’s demand for part of a committed amount; each one raises paid-in capital. Vintage year The year a fund starts investing — the basis on which funds are compared.
Questions about TVPI
What is the difference between TVPI and DPI? DPI counts only what the fund has paid out. TVPI adds the value of what it still holds. The gap between them is RVPI — value that has not yet been turned into cash. Is TVPI net of fees? When reported to investors, it should be. TVPI is measured on the cash flows between the fund and its investors, after management fees, expenses and carry. ILPA’s template reports it net, with and without the subscription credit line. Why is TVPI below 1.0x in the first years?
What is the difference between TVPI and DPI?
DPI counts only what the fund has paid out. TVPI adds the value of what it still holds. The gap between them is RVPI — value that has not yet been turned into cash.
Is TVPI net of fees?
When reported to investors, it should be. TVPI is measured on the cash flows between the fund and its investors, after management fees, expenses and carry. ILPA’s template reports it net, with and without the subscription credit line.
Why is TVPI below 1.0x in the first years?
Fees and fund expenses are paid out of the first capital called, while the companies bought are held at roughly cost. Total value briefly sits below paid-in capital. This is the J-curve, and it usually reverses as investments gain value.
Can TVPI go down?
Yes. The residual-value half moves with valuations, so markdowns lower it. Distributions already made do not reverse, which is why a fund with high DPI is less exposed to a fall than one whose TVPI is mostly RVPI.
Does TVPI apply to an SPV?
The same arithmetic works: what you have been distributed plus your share of the vehicle’s net asset value, over what you paid in. With one company in the vehicle, it is close to the position’s net multiple.
Where the figures on this page come from
Figures and definitions were last verified on 1 October 2026. The Carta figures describe venture funds on Carta’s platform as of the end of Q2 2026, not private equity as a whole. The fund example is illustrative.