Private Equity Fund IRR Calculator
Calculate your private equity or venture capital fund's IRR (Internal Rate of Return) net of management fees and 20% carried interest. See gross vs net IRR side-by-side, MOIC, and DPI distribution metrics.
| Committed Capital | — |
| Total Mgmt Fees Paid | — |
| Capital Deployed | — |
| Gross Return | — |
| Gross Profit | — |
| Hurdle (8% Compounded) | — |
| Carry-Eligible Profit | — |
| Carry Paid to GP | — |
| Net to LP | — |
| Gross MOIC | — |
| Net MOIC | — |
| Gross IRR | — |
| Net IRR | — |
| DPI (Distribution to Paid-In) | — |
Gross vs Net IRR — The Fee Drag
Gross IRR measures the fund's performance before management fees and carried interest. Net IRR is what LPs actually realize. The gap — typically 3-5 percentage points — is the GP's compensation. On a $100M fund, that's $20M-50M.
When you compare PE fund performance, always use net IRR. Industry standard benchmarks (Cambridge Associates, Burgiss, Preqin) report by vintage year, strategy (buyout, growth, venture), and quartile. Top quartile in buyout vintages 2010-2018 averaged 18-25% net IRR.
Source: Cambridge Associates Private Investment Benchmarks + Burgiss data
MOIC, DPI, and TVPI
MOIC (Multiple on Invested Capital) shows total return: 2.5x means you got $2.50 back for every $1 invested. DPI (Distribution to Paid-In) measures realized distributions only — cash actually returned to LPs. TVPI (Total Value to Paid-In) is DPI plus residual NAV.
For active funds, NAV-based TVPI can be inflated by GP valuation discretion. DPI is cash-in-the-bank — the conservative measure. A fund with high TVPI but low DPI is full of unrealized markups; the value isn't real until exits happen.
Capital Call Pattern and J-Curve
PE funds don't take all your committed capital upfront. They draw it down via capital calls over the investment period (typically 5 years). During years 1-3, fees are paid but investments are still maturing — net IRR often shows negative (the J-curve).
Years 4-7 see exits and distributions. By year 8-10, the fund liquidates remaining holdings. The shape of distributions matters as much as the total — a fund that returns capital in year 5 has a much higher IRR than one returning the same MOIC in year 10.
Vintage Year and Cycle Risk
PE fund returns vary significantly by vintage year. Vintages investing into recessions (2009-2010, 2020) tend to have very high IRRs because they buy assets cheap. Vintages investing at peaks (2007, 2021) often underperform. Diversify across 3-5 vintage years.
Top-quartile funds outperform bottom-quartile by 1500+ basis points in private equity — the manager dispersion is far wider than in public markets. Cambridge Associates publishes quartile breaks by vintage year for due diligence benchmarking.
Source: Cambridge Associates vintage year quartile data