Total value to paid-in (TVPI).
In plain English
TVPI answers a simple question: for every dollar an investor has put into the fund, how many dollars of value exist today, counting both what has been paid out and what is still owned. It combines realized distributions with the fund's own estimate of what its remaining holdings are worth. A TVPI of 1.5 means the fund believes it has created 50 cents of value per dollar contributed, though only part of that may be cash. The reliability of the number depends entirely on how the unsold holdings are valued, and those valuations are estimates made by the manager. Paired with DPI, it separates what is real from what is projected.
01Why it matters
TVPI is the headline number funds market with, so knowing how much of it is estimate rather than cash changes how much weight to put on it.
02The math, step by step
Say paid-in capital is $50,000,000, distributions are $35,000,000, and remaining holdings are valued at $30,000,000. Total value is $65,000,000. TVPI is 65 divided by 50, which is 1.30. DPI is 35 divided by 50, or 0.70, so 0.60 of the multiple is still unrealized.
Illustrative example. The amounts here are hypothetical, chosen to show how the math works, not real quoted rates or figures.
03What this is NOT
TVPI is a multiple with no time in it. A 1.5 multiple earned in four years and one earned in fourteen are very different annual returns. IRR adds the timing, TVPI only adds up the dollars.
04Receipts
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Plain-English answers from our glossary. Receipts included. Never advice.
Educational tool. Answers come only from ClearMoneySchool's published glossary and are not advice. Why we never give advice