What is DPI?
DPI — distributions to paid-in — is the ratio of cumulative cash a fund has actually returned to its limited partners to the cumulative capital those LPs have paid in. A DPI of 1.0x means investors have received back exactly what they put in; above 1.0x, the fund has returned real profit.
What makes DPI distinctive is that it counts only realized cash. It owes nothing to valuations, marks, or estimates — it is the part of a fund's return that has already been banked. For that reason it is often called the realization multiple or, loosely, cash-on-cash.
DPI is the most conservative measure of fund performance and the one LPs trust most, precisely because it cannot be inflated by optimistic marks on unsold companies.
How DPI fits with RVPI and TVPI
DPI is one of three related multiples that together describe a fund:
- DPI — distributions to paid-in: cash already returned ÷ capital paid in. The realized portion.
- RVPI — residual value to paid-in: the current marked value of what is still held ÷ capital paid in. The unrealized portion.
- TVPI — total value to paid-in: DPI + RVPI. The full picture, realized plus unrealized.
Early in a fund's life, almost all of TVPI is RVPI — value on paper. As the fund matures and exits, value migrates from RVPI into DPI. A mature fund reporting a high TVPI but a low DPI is a warning sign: the gains are still unrealized and may not survive to cash.
Why LPs watch DPI closely
DPI answers the only question that ultimately matters to an investor: how much cash have I actually gotten back? Unrealized value is a forecast; DPI is a fact. A GP can carry a flattering RVPI for years, but DPI cannot be fabricated — the money either left the fund's account or it didn't.
In a difficult exit environment, the gap between TVPI and DPI widens as funds hold assets longer. LPs increasingly anchor re-up decisions on a manager's realized DPI track record rather than headline TVPI, because it strips out the question of whether the marks will hold.