Residual Value to Paid-In (RVPI)
Residual value to paid-in (RVPI) is the ratio of a private fund’s remaining reported investment value to the capital contributed by its investors.
RVPI isolates the unrealized portion of fund value
The standard relationship is:
RVPI = remaining value ÷ paid-in capital
ILPA defines RVPI as the current value of investments still held by a fund divided by LP contributions to date.[1]
Unlike DPI, the numerator is not cash already returned. It is the reported value of assets that remain in the portfolio.
Example
Assume LPs have contributed $100 million.
The fund has distributed $30 million and still reports investments worth $120 million.
RVPI is:
$120 million ÷ $100 million = 1.20x
DPI would be 0.30x.
TVPI would be:
0.30x + 1.20x = 1.50x
This decomposition shows that most of the fund’s reported value is still unrealized.
RVPI depends on valuation
This is the central limitation.
Private-company interests generally do not trade continuously in deep public markets. A fund’s remaining value therefore depends on valuation policies, comparable-company inputs, financing rounds, operating performance, discounts, model assumptions and other evidence.
CFA Institute research emphasizes that private-equity performance measures involving unrealized holdings face valuation uncertainty because those holdings are private and illiquid.[2]
A 1.5x RVPI is therefore not the same as 1.5x of cash sitting in a bank account.
High RVPI can mean opportunity or unfinished work
An elevated RVPI can have very different interpretations.
It may indicate:
- valuable companies still being held for future exits
- a young fund that has not reached its realization phase
- delayed exits because market conditions are weak
- optimistic or stale portfolio marks
- a deliberate longer-duration strategy
The metric needs fund-age and portfolio context.
RVPI tends to fall as a fund liquidates
As assets are sold and proceeds are distributed, remaining value generally declines.
In a fully liquidated fund, RVPI should approach zero because no portfolio value remains.
At that point, TVPI and DPI converge because essentially all fund value has been realized or written off.
This convergence is one reason mature-fund performance is easier to interpret than early interim performance.
RVPI versus NAV
RVPI uses remaining value in the numerator, but it is a ratio to paid-in capital.
NAV is a dollar valuation of net assets under the applicable accounting and reporting framework.
A fund might report:
- NAV: $240 million
- paid-in capital: $200 million
- RVPI: 1.20x
The figures are related but not interchangeable.
Recallable and recycled capital can affect the denominator
ILPA notes that reinvested capital resulting from recallable distributions is included in the paid-in denominator under the convention described in its glossary.[1]
That makes it important to reconcile RVPI with the fund’s contribution history rather than reconstructing the ratio from headline commitment figures.
Common mistakes
“RVPI is realized profit.”
No. It represents remaining reported value.
“A high RVPI is always better than a high DPI.”
No. They describe different stages and types of value.
“RVPI tells how quickly a fund generated returns.”
No. It is not time-weighted or annualized.
“Remaining value is guaranteed exit value.”
No. Actual sale proceeds can be higher or lower than interim marks.
Example
An investor evaluating Residual Value to Paid-In (RVPI) should identify the calculation convention or governing-document treatment before comparing the figure across funds.
Professional note
When RVPI is a large share of TVPI, valuation quality becomes especially important. Review the fund’s age, valuation policy, concentration, recent financing evidence and exit environment before treating the reported multiple as economically equivalent to realized cash.
Related terms
- Liquidity
Liquidity describes how readily an investment can be converted to cash without substantial delay, transaction cost or adverse price impact. Liquidity can change with market conditions.
- Paid-In Capital
Paid-in capital is the amount of an investor’s committed capital that has actually been transferred to a private fund through capital calls.
- Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
Internal rate of return (IRR) is the discount rate that makes the net present value of an investment’s cash inflows and outflows equal zero.
- Distributed to Paid-In (DPI)
Distributed to paid-in (DPI) is the ratio of cumulative distributions made to investors to the capital those investors have contributed to the fund.
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