What is a GP commit?

A GP commit (or GP commitment) is the amount of capital that the fund's general partners invest in their own fund, alongside the LPs. Industry standard is 1-2% of total fund size, though expectations vary by fund size and LP preferences. On a $100 million fund, a 1% GP commit means the GPs collectively invest $1 million of their own money.

The GP commit is fundamentally a signal of alignment. LPs want to know that the people managing their capital have real financial skin in the game — that if the fund performs poorly, the GPs lose their own money too, not just their fees. A GP who refuses to commit meaningful personal capital to their own fund sends a bad signal.

The GP commit also affects the overall economics. Because GPs are invested as LPs (not as the GP entity), their GP commit capital earns LP-level returns — they participate in the 80% LP share of profits, plus they still earn their 20% carry as GPs. This double participation can be very lucrative in a successful fund.

Where does the GP commit come from? For established managers, it comes from carry distributions from prior funds. For first-time fund managers, it's a chicken-and-egg problem: you haven't earned carry yet, so the GP commit often comes from personal savings, bank loans, or management fee advances from the new fund. Some institutional LPs will accept a lower GP commit from emerging managers acknowledging this reality.

A GP commit of less than 1% is a yellow flag in LP due diligence. It signals either that the GP doesn't believe strongly in the fund's prospects or that they lack the financial resources to invest meaningfully — neither inspires confidence. Some institutional LPs now push for GP commits of 3-5% as a stronger alignment mechanism.