Co-Investment Return Calculator
The formula
What the co-investment tells you
Buying alongside the lead with the fund's fee stack stripped away: usually low admin fee, no carry — the LP takes the deal's economics nearly whole.
Calculation: Net MOIC = (ownership × exit − fee) ÷ invested; no carry in a clean co-invest. Enter your inputs and every substitution is shown below the result.
Reading the result
Co-invest concentrates what the fund diversified; it is conviction expressed directly.
Rules of thumb: Co-invest programs now route 10–20% of LP private-markets dollars
Limitations and best practice
Access is rationed and selected — leads rarely need money for their best companies; the allocation itself carries adverse-selection risk.
This calculator gives an estimate based on standard formulas; it is not professional financial, medical, legal or engineering advice. Verify anything you plan to act on with a qualified professional and your own records.
Frequently asked questions
Why no carry on co-invest?
Does it help the GP?
Source & methodology
ILPA co-investment guidelines.
Co-Investment Return: what this tool answers
Capital decisions deserve better than a gut feeling — this page gives you the arithmetic to defend one. There are plenty of pages about Co-Investment Return; almost none of them show the working. This one does: the formula, every input, a fully computed example, and a sensitivity analysis calculated live from this engine’s own defaults.
Most confusion about Co-Investment Return comes from mixing up the input you control with the input you merely observe. The formula treats them identically, but your decisions should not: one deserves measurement, the other deserves a defensible estimate.
People rarely disagree about arithmetic; they disagree about assumptions that were never written down. Printing the substitution and the sensitivity ranking removes that category of disagreement for Co-Investment Return.
What makes a calculation page trustworthy is that its copy is derived from its own arithmetic: here co-invest MOIC = 4.17 ×, recomputed every time a field changes, and the sensitivity section ranks the inputs that move the result — Co-invested capital first, at ≈11.2 % of the headline for a ten-percent error either way in that input — which is the thread the rest of this guide pulls on.
Inside the Co-Investment Return calculation: formula and every input
One formula, published in full: Net MOIC = (ownership × exit − fee) ÷ invested; no carry in a clean co-invest. Anything you can read, you can reproduce in a spreadsheet, and that reproducibility is the whole point of printing it rather than hiding it behind a button.
Co-invested capital ($) (example value 4,992,651) is a quantity rather than a category — precision here is cheap and worth having. This input feeds the formula directly; a defensible figure here is worth more than false precision anywhere else.
Ownership of company at exit (%) (example value 7) is a quantity rather than a category — precision here is cheap and worth having. Rates are the most mis-transcribed input on any page like this; copy it from the document rather than retyping from memory.
Exit equity value ($) (example value 300,000,000) is a quantity rather than a category — precision here is cheap and worth having. This input feeds the formula directly; a defensible figure here is worth more than false precision anywhere else.
Admin fee on the co-invest (%) (example value 4) is a plain measured quantity — the unit shown in the label is the unit the formula expects. Check the convention first: if the source says “6.5 % per year”, type 6.5 and let the formula do the rest.
A fully worked Co-Investment Return example
The tool prints its own working; this is the same arithmetic on the example values, reproduced so you can follow it by hand. Starting figures: Co-invested capital ($), Ownership of company at exit (%), Exit equity value ($), Admin fee on the co-invest (%). The endpoint of that chain is 4.17 × of co-invest MOIC, sitting in the “Only the 4% admin fee stands between $21,000,000 gross and the LP” band.
- Proceeds = 7% × $300,000,000 = $21,000,000
- Net of fee on $4,992,651 = 4.17×
Gross proceeds — $21,000,000. This is the number experienced users quote when the headline alone would mislead.
Fees paid — $199,706. This is the number experienced users quote when the headline alone would mislead.
Carry avoided vs the main-fund path — $4,200,000. If your inputs change, this is usually the first companion figure to move.
Overwrite any input above and every line of this example updates with it — the substitution is live, not a screenshot of somebody else’s numbers.
How far Co-Investment Return can reasonably move
The honest version of any estimate is a corridor, and this one is cheap to produce: Co-Investment Return was recomputed at 5 points along the dominant input, with every other field left untouched.
| Co-invested capital setting | Co-invest MOIC |
|---|---|
| 80 % of the example value | 5.22 × |
| 90 % of the example value | 4.63 × |
| example inputs | 4.17 × |
| 110 % of the example value | 3.78 × |
| 120 % of the example value | 3.47 × |
Across 5 settings of Co-invested capital, the result spans 3.47 × to 5.22 ×. A decision that only works at one row of this table is a decision waiting for an input to move. Reproduce it in the form above by editing Co-invested capital alone; the substitution steps will follow your figures exactly.
Where Co-Investment Return is fragile — and where it is not
This list was computed for this specific engine just now: each numeric input was nudged ±10 % while every other field held its example value, and the co-invest MOIC was recalculated from scratch. For Co-Investment Return the ranking is measured rather than guessed, and it belongs to these defaults: shift the starting point and the order can shift with it.
- Co-invested capital +10 % → Co-Investment Return = 3.78 × · −10 % → 4.63 × (the co-invest MOIC shifts ≈11.2 %)
- Nudge Ownership of company at exit by ±10 % and Co-Investment Return lands between 3.75 × and 4.59 × (sensitivity ≈10.1 %)
- Exit equity value: ten percent up gives 4.59 ×, ten percent down gives 3.75 × — ≈10.1 % of the co-invest MOIC either way
- Admin fee on the co-invest +10 % → Co-Investment Return = 4.16 × · −10 % → 4.17 × (the co-invest MOIC shifts ≈0.1 %)
Co-invested capital is the dominant lever here: ten percent either way moves the result by about 11.2 %, from 3.78 × to 4.63 ×. That is where a careless figure does the most damage, so check it against a source, and treat Ownership of company at exit as the second priority (≈10.1 % per ten percent). The rest of the inputs earn only a rounding-error of attention, and that asymmetry is the practical payoff of measuring rather than asserting.
Interpreting the Co-Investment Return verdict
The value above only becomes useful the moment you know what it is being measured against. The verdict attached to the default calculation — “Only the 4% admin fee stands between $21,000,000 gross and the LP” — is one band on a ladder your own figure may sit somewhere else on. The sensitivity list shows how far a modest input error moves you along that ladder: for Co-invested capital, ±10 % covers 3.78 × to 4.63 ×. The practical reading rules: read the band as a starting hypothesis, then test it: change the two dominant inputs by ten percent and see whether the verdict survives. Verdicts that survive stress are the ones worth acting on.
Where Co-Investment Return sits next to similar measures: this tool answers “how much is the Co-Investment Return”, while the related calculators answer “what do I do about it”. Reading the result alone tends to over-weight a single snapshot; pairing it with the companion tools above turns the number into a decision.
The errors that quietly break a Co-Investment Return figure
Access is rationed and selected — leads rarely need money for their best companies; the allocation itself carries adverse-selection risk. This calculator gives an estimate based on standard formulas; it is not professional financial, medical, legal or engineering advice. Verify anything you plan to act on with a qualified professional and your own records.
Treating the example inputs as a recommendation. They are a demonstration of the mechanism — a decision-grade Co-Investment Return begins the moment your own figures replace them.
Attention is also misallocated between fields. Having measured this engine, we can say where it belongs: Co-invested capital first, everything else second.
Another is comparing across contexts: a Co-Investment Return computed with one set of conventions should never be lined up against a figure computed with another. Check the inputs behind both before ranking them.
Six things to confirm before acting on Co-Investment Return
- Recompute once with the dominant input deliberately set low, and see whether the decision changes.
- State, in one sentence, which convention each rate, unit or period in the form is using.
- Put Co-invested capital under a magnifier; the sensitivity table above is the reason why.
- Compare the result with one independent method or published benchmark.
- Note the date and the inputs beside the number so the figure can be audited later.
- Repeat the ±10 % test on the inputs that matter and see whether the decision — not just the number — still holds.
How to use the Co-Investment Return tool properly
The tool does the arithmetic; the routine below is what makes the arithmetic trustworthy. Five steps, a minute total — and afterwards you will know not just what the number is, but which assumption produced it.
Step 1 — one document, one pass. Open the statement, label or record that holds co-invested capital ($), ownership of company at exit (%), exit equity value ($), admin fee on the co-invest (%) and transcribe straight into the form. Transcription from a single source removes the mismatch errors that appear when figures are assembled from three different places. When in doubt, prefer the boring input: the interesting one is usually the one you misread.
Step 2 — baseline before exploration. Get one defensible Co-invest MOIC on screen before you start nudging numbers. Without a baseline, every variation looks interesting and none of them means anything. Say the answer out loud before you save it; if it sounds wrong, the model did not change, your understanding did.
Step 3 — change one input at a time. Nudge a single field by ten percent, watch the headline and its companions move, then undo it. Two or three fields will dominate — the sensitivity table above already ranks them for this engine. A calculation you cannot explain to somebody else is a calculation you cannot defend.
Step 4 — run the scenario trio. Expected, pessimistic, optimistic. The gap between pessimistic and expected is the number to plan against; the optimistic result is useful only as a ceiling. The inputs are the part of the work that nobody else can do for you.
Step 5 — write the one-line memo. “Co-invest MOIC = 4.17 × on this date, from these inputs.” That line is the entire deliverable; everything else on this page is how you earned the right to write it. Estimates improve most when the worst case is written down in ink.
From calculation to decision: where Co-Investment Return earns its keep
Numbers earn their keep in conversations, and Co-Investment Return is no exception. In Business & Entrepreneurship discussions around Startup Metrics, this figure decides whether an option stays on the table: it converts an opinionated debate into an arithmetic one, and arithmetic is the only referee both sides accept. When two sources disagree, it is almost never the arithmetic that differs.
Professionals in Startup Metrics use this style of calculation as a screening filter before spending real money or effort: a quick Co-Investment Return check eliminates weak options in minutes, and the survivors earn the deeper, slower analysis. When two sources disagree, it is almost never the arithmetic that differs.
There is a personal-administration use people overlook: periodic self-checking. Co-Investment Return quietly drifts as life changes — rates move, bodies change, costs compound — and re-running it a few times a year catches drift while correction is still cheap. Half of a good calculation is knowing which input you would hate to be wrong about.
The questions that come up most about Co-Investment Return
What affects Co-Investment Return the most?
Measured on this engine, Co-invested capital is the dominant lever: moving it ±10 % shifts the co-invest MOIC across 3.78 × to 4.63 × — about 11.2 % of the headline, with Ownership of company at exit next at ≈10.1 %. The ranked list in the sensitivity section is computed live, not asserted from a template.
Which matters more: ownership of company at exit or co-invested capital?
By the numbers, Co-invested capital: a ten-percent change in it moves the result ≈11.2 %, versus ≈10.1 % for Ownership of company at exit. Spend your measuring effort in that order — precision on the weaker lever buys almost nothing.
What is a typical Co-Investment Return?
With the example inputs on this page the result is 4.17 ×, labelled “Only the 4% admin fee stands between $21,000,000 gross and the LP”. “Typical” varies with situation, which is why every result here ships with its verdict band and its sensitivity list: they turn one figure into a range you can locate yourself inside.
How do I calculate Co-Investment Return by hand?
Net MOIC = (ownership × exit − fee) ÷ invested; no carry in a clean co-invest is the entire method. Work the inputs in that order — Proceeds = 7% × $300,000,000 = $21,000,000 — and you will reach 4.17 × on the default figures, the same number this tool prints.
What happens to Co-Investment Return if co-invested capital changes by 10 %?
The engine was re-run with that field moved by ten percent while everything else stayed fixed: the co-invest MOIC goes across 3.78 × to 4.63 ×, a swing of roughly 11.2 % around the 4.17 × baseline. That ratio is the practical definition of how much this input matters.
Is the Co-Investment Return result of 4.17 × good or bad?
Neither, on its own — the label “Only the 4% admin fee stands between $21,000,000 gross and the LP” is the band this figure falls in for the example inputs, and your own inputs will place you elsewhere on the same ladder. Judge the number against your history and your alternatives, and remember that a ten-percent error in Co-invested capital alone moves it by ≈11.2 %.
Is Co-Investment Return accurate?
The arithmetic is exact: Net MOIC = (ownership × exit − fee) ÷ invested; no carry in a clean co-invest is evaluated with full floating-point precision and every substitution is printed in the worked example. What limits accuracy is input quality and the model’s assumptions, so treat the 4.17 × result as the correct answer to the question you typed — and check the assumptions section before acting on it.
What affects Co-Investment Return the most?
Sensitivity depends on where you start, but the inputs Co-invested capital ($) and Ownership of company at exit (%) typically move Co-Investment Return further than the rest because they enter the formula multiplicatively. If you can only measure two things well, measure those and hold the others at conservative defaults.
Why no carry on co-invest?
The LP takes allocation and deal risk without paying for selection work; fees cover admin only.
Does it help the GP?
It deepens relationships and total deployment — but dilutes carry per dollar.
Is my data private on this page?
Yes — computation happens locally in your browser, with no account, no tracking of your inputs and nothing sent to a server. The printed formula is the whole story of what happens to your figures.
Key terms on this page
- Gross proceeds
- $21,000,000 for the Co-Investment Return worked case; it sits next to the main result because it carries context the headline leaves out.
- Fees paid
- $199,706 on the example inputs — a companion figure printed beside the headline of Co-Investment Return so that no result is read in isolation.
- Carry avoided vs the main-fund path
- $4,200,000 on the example inputs — a companion figure printed beside the headline of Co-Investment Return so that no result is read in isolation.
- Co-invest MOIC
- The primary output of this tool: 4.17 × for the default inputs, computed exactly from Net MOIC = (ownership × exit − fee) ÷ invested; no carry in a clean co-invest.
- Worked example
- Every substitution in order, from the example inputs to 4.17 × — the audit trail for the headline figure.
- Verdict band
- A named zone on the range of plausible results; the example inputs land in “Only the 4% admin fee stands between $21,000,000 gross and the LP”, and your inputs may not.
- Sensitivity (±10 %)
- How far the Co-Investment Return moves when a single input is nudged ten percent either way; the ranked list on this page is computed live from this engine.
Methodology, sources and limits
The model is published arithmetic implemented exactly as written: Net MOIC = (ownership × exit − fee) ÷ invested; no carry in a clean co-invest. Source of record: ILPA co-investment guidelines. Where a professional version of this calculation differs, it differs in inputs and jurisdiction-specific coefficients, not in the algebra — which is why re-checking your inputs beats hunting for a second calculator.
Nothing here replaces a qualified professional, and nothing here is approximate either — the arithmetic is exact, and the honesty is in the inputs you supply. The promise to the reader is narrow and testable: same inputs, same output, no silent rounding, and no figure presented without the formula that produced it.
What to do with your Co-Investment Return next
Run the pessimistic case before the optimistic one; an opportunity that survives the pessimistic inputs is the only kind worth pursuing.
This page was written for investors and founders comparing opportunities on equal terms, and the promise is that nothing above required trust. Bookmark the tool, re-run it whenever an input moves by more than a few percent, and keep the date with the number.