Glossary

Distributions to Paid-In Capital (DPI)

Also known as: DPI

A closed-end fund performance multiple equal to cumulative cash distributions returned to limited partners divided by cumulative capital paid in, measuring realized cash return independent of any unrealized, marked value still held in the portfolio.

DPI is often called the 'show me the money' metric because, unlike a headline IRR or a multiple that includes unrealized value, it reflects only cash actually returned to investors and cannot be inflated by optimistic general partner marks on unsold assets. A DPI of 1.0x means an investor has recovered the full amount of contributed capital in cash, independent of whatever residual value remains in the fund; LPs and consultants weight DPI increasingly heavily as a fund matures, since a fund late in its stated term with strong reported multiples but low DPI is signaling that most of its apparent performance still depends on successfully realizing unsold, marked positions rather than on results already delivered.