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Vintage year

The year a fund begins investing. Used to compare funds against peers deploying into the same market conditions.

Vintage year — The year a fund begins investing. Used to compare funds against peers deploying into the same market conditions.

Comparing a fund's performance without adjusting for vintage year is one of the most basic analytical errors in private markets — a fund that deployed capital into a market trough will naturally look very different from one that deployed at a peak, independent of the manager's actual skill.

Frequently asked questions

Why does vintage year matter so much for comparison?

Because funds from different vintage years deploy into different market conditions, so comparing raw returns without adjusting for vintage can seriously mislead — proper benchmarking always compares a fund against peers from the same vintage year.

Is a fund's vintage year the year it was raised or the year it started investing?

Convention varies — some define it by first close, others by when investing actually began — so when comparing benchmarks, confirm which definition is being used.

Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or investment advice. SeRuM is not a registered broker-dealer, not a placement agent, and not an investment adviser.

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