
Search Fund Terms: What an LP Nets at 2x, 3x, 5x
The same exit pays an LP a different amount depending on the structure. A waterfall model at 1.5x, 2x, 3x and 5x shows where terms matter and where they don't.
Research · Perspectives · Practice
SMB investing, search fund, and co-invest playbooks. Fundraising tips and operator tactics for accredited investors and advisors.

SBA loan-level data shows which acquisition loans charged off and when, but it cannot measure whether an acquisition failed or what its equity investors lost.

Understand broken searches, distinguish acquisition rates from investment losses, and learn which population and source questions to carry into further reading.

Read a search fund PPM alongside a co-investment memo to distinguish disclosure, assumptions and evidence, and clarify open questions before making a decision.

Understand search fund return dispersion, how exclusions change an aggregate, and what loss figures leave unresolved. Check evidence before drawing conclusions.

Read search fund returns vs private market benchmarks with the limits intact. Compare populations, periods and measures before drawing portfolio conclusions.

Check search fund study comparability before using return figures. Identify populations, periods, metrics and exclusions to keep research claims in context.

Understand SMB investment liquidity before relying on proceeds. Separate capital calls, distributions and exits, and identify unanswered timing questions.

Understand SMB LP reporting by separating updates, valuations, tax documents and cash receipts. Learn what each document answers and what remains unknown.

SMB portfolio allocation starts with purpose. Examine shared risks, cash demands and private-market exposures before deciding where an SMB sleeve belongs.