--- title: "Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC) | Altss Glossary" description: "Multiple on invested capital (MOIC) is the total value of an investment or portfolio, realised proceeds plus unrealised value, divided by the capital…" canonical: "https://altss.com/glossary/moic" --- Glossary · Performance & benchmarking # Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC) Also called: multiple of money · MoM · cash-on-cash multiple (deal) Multiple on invested capital (MOIC) is the total value of an investment or portfolio, realised proceeds plus unrealised value, divided by the capital invested in it; it is usually quoted gross, at deal or portfolio level. Publisher: Altss LLCPublished 2025-12-29Content modified 2026-10-01 ALTSS-PERF-014 MOIC answers "how many times our money" for a deal or a set of deals. A company bought with $50 million of equity that has returned $30 million and is valued at $70 million has a 2.0x MOIC. MOIC ignores time. Because it is normally measured before fees and carry and divides by capital put into deals rather than everything LPs paid, it is higher than the fund's net total value to paid-in (TVPI). ## Formula ### MOIC ``` MOIC = (realised proceeds + unrealised value) / invested capital ``` `V_{realized}` cumulative proceeds received from the investment(s): sale proceeds, dividends, interest, recapitalisation proceeds `V_{unrealized}` fair value of the position(s) still held at the measurement date `IC` invested capital: equity and other instruments the fund paid for the position(s), including follow-ons; whether capitalised deal costs are included follows the manager's policy MOIC is gross unless stated otherwise. Some managers also present a "net MOIC", with no single definition: the Performance Template of the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), released in 2025,, for example, derives a portfolio-level net MOIC synthetically, by applying the ratio or spread between the fund's net TVPI and gross MOIC to portfolio-level gross MOICs. The LP-level net multiple is TVPI. A realised MOIC uses only fully realised investments; an unrealised MOIC uses only positions still held. ## The denominator: invested capital, not paid-in MOIC divides by invested capital, the money that went into deals. [TVPI](https://altss.com/glossary/tvpi) divides by paid-in capital, which also includes management fees and fund expenses. MOIC's numerator is the value of the holdings before carried interest; TVPI's is the LPs' value after it. Recycling can push invested capital above paid-in, which lowers fund-level MOIC relative to TVPI. The full comparison is in TVPI vs MOIC. ## Realised and unrealised MOIC Track records split MOIC into realised investments (exited or substantially exited) and unrealised ones. A high total MOIC carried by unrealised marks is weaker evidence than the same figure from exits. The threshold for "realised" (fully exited, or a stated share of cost returned) varies by manager and should be stated. See [realized vs unrealized returns](https://altss.com/glossary/realized-vs-unrealized-returns). ## MOIC and holding period MOIC and IRR answer different questions: how much versus how fast. For one investment with one exit, IRR = MOIC^(1/n) − 1, so the same multiple maps to very different IRRs depending on the holding period. With interim cash flows (dividends, recaps, partial sales) the relationship no longer holds exactly, which is why both are reported. IRR vs MOIC works through when each misleads. ## How GPs and LPs use MOIC GPs underwrite deals to target multiples and report gross MOIC by deal and by fund. LPs use deal-level MOICs to study dispersion, the loss ratio, concentration of value in a few winners, and [track record attribution](https://altss.com/glossary/gp-track-record-attribution). In real estate the equivalent deal measure is usually called the [equity multiple](https://altss.com/glossary/equity-multiple). Vintage-year fund benchmarks are built on net TVPI and net IRR, not on MOIC. ## Worked examples ### Illustrative deal ($ millions) A fund invested $50m in a company, has received $30m from a partial sale and values the remaining stake at $70m. MOIC = (30 + 70) / 50 = **2.00x**, of which 0.60x is realised and 1.40x unrealised. ### The same 2.0x over three years For a single investment and a single exit, IRR = MOIC^(1/n) − 1. A 2.0x over 3 years is an [IRR](https://altss.com/glossary/irr) of **26.0%**. ### The same 2.0x over seven years The same multiple earned over 7 years is an IRR of **10.4%**. MOIC alone cannot tell the two apart. Examples are illustrative; figures are not market data. ## Not the same as - [Total Value to Paid-In (TVPI)](https://altss.com/glossary/tvpi): TVPI is the LP's net multiple on paid-in capital including fees; MOIC is usually a gross multiple on capital invested in deals. - [Internal Rate of Return (IRR)](https://altss.com/glossary/irr): IRR is an annualised rate sensitive to timing; MOIC has no time dimension. - [Equity Multiple](https://altss.com/glossary/equity-multiple): Equity multiple is the real estate term for the same deal-level calculation, usually total distributions divided by equity invested. ## Common mistakes - Comparing a manager's gross MOIC with other funds' net TVPI. - Presenting MOIC without the holding period or IRR. - Comparing "net MOIC" figures across managers without asking how each was calculated. - Benchmarking MOIC against vintage quartiles that are built on net TVPI. - Assuming MOIC cannot be inflated; unrealised marks drive it just as they drive TVPI. ## Edge cases - Follow-on investments raise invested capital; a deal can show a lower MOIC after a successful follow-on than before it. - Proceeds that are recycled into new deals count as realised value for the exited deal and as invested capital for the new one. - For credit funds, MOIC is compressed by design (interest plus principal) and is less informative than yield and loss measures. ## Questions ### Is MOIC gross or net? Usually gross: struck before the fund charges management fees and expenses, and before the GP takes carried interest. If a manager reports a net MOIC, ask for the definition; the standard net LP multiple is TVPI. ### What is the difference between MOIC and multiple of money (MoM)? They are used interchangeably for value divided by invested capital. Check whether the figure is gross or net and whether it includes unrealised value. ## Sources - [ILPA Performance Template (Granular Methodology and Gross Up Methodology), v1.1](https://ilpa.org/industry-guidance/templates-standards-model-documents/ilpa-templates-hub/ilpa-performance-template/). Institutional Limited Partners Association, ILPA, Released January 2025 (QRSI); v1.1 April 2025. Status: Current; for funds commencing operations on or after 1 January 2026 (checked 2026-10-01). Granular Methodology guidance v1.1, pp. 10-11 and section VIII (p. 21) — supports: Gross IRR and gross MOIC at fund and portfolio level; net TVPI at fund level; portfolio-level net MOIC as a synthetic figure; no ILPA definition of realised and unrealised (funds define and disclose their own) ## Related terms 5 terms - [Total Value to Paid-In (TVPI)](https://altss.com/glossary/tvpi) - [Gross IRR](https://altss.com/glossary/gross-irr) - [Realized vs Unrealized Returns](https://altss.com/glossary/realized-vs-unrealized-returns) - [Equity Multiple](https://altss.com/glossary/equity-multiple) - [Track Record](https://altss.com/glossary/track-record) ## Referenced by 5 terms - [Dividend Recapitalization](https://altss.com/glossary/dividend-recapitalization) - [ILPA Reporting Template](https://altss.com/glossary/ilpa-reporting-template) - [Internal Rate of Return (IRR)](https://altss.com/glossary/irr) - [Rollover Equity](https://altss.com/glossary/rollover-equity) - [Search Fund Economics](https://altss.com/glossary/search-fund-economics) ## Concept record Concept ID ALTSS-PERF-014 Classification Performance & benchmarking Topics Performance & benchmarking · Private equity Version 2.0.0 Last reviewed 2026-10-01 Structured data [JSON](https://altss.com/reference/concepts/moic.json) ## Canonical URL https://altss.com/glossary/moic