A 12-Part Guide to Raising Your First Fund
Welcome to the Fund One Handbook – CapQ’s end-to-end playbook for first-time and asset managers raising in 2025-2026!
This Fund One Handbook brings every moving part of your raise into one, navigable place: crafting a bankable thesis, choosing the right US/EU structure, packaging your ILPA-ready data room and DDQ, mapping the LP universe (family offices, FoFs/EM platforms, HNW, institutions), running a professional funnel to first close, and staying compliant under the SEC Marketing Rule. You’ll also find deep dives on EU pathways (AIFMD/ELTIF 2.0), secondaries and continuation funds (why LPs keep asking), and the operational moats that actually win deals, sourcing mechanics, AI workflows, and day-one IR discipline.
What you’ll get here:
- Step-by-step checklists you can copy into your CRM/project tracker.
- Templates & examples (DDQ response bank, reporting samples, audit readiness, side-letter/MFN trackers).
- Decision trees (506(b) vs. 506(c); AIFMD passport vs. NPPR vs. ELTIF).
- Benchmarks & ranges to pressure-test budgets (admin, legal, audit, fund finance).
- Operating rhythms that compound: weekly IC cadence, monthly IR notes, quarterly packs, and a clean “first-close → final-close” plan.
How to use this page:
Start with Set the Strategy to sharpen your thesis, jump to Designing the Right Vehicle to choose the legal track, then move through Data Room & DDQ, LP Targeting & Anchors, Close Mechanics, and IR Year 1-2. Save the page, work the checklists, and come back as your raise advances, we’ve built this to be your command center from first deck to audited Q4.
Chapter 1: Defining Your Investment Thesis
Craft an LP-ready Fund I investment thesis that’s specific, defensible, and aligned with your edge, so you can tell a clear “why us, why now” story that drives conviction, allocations, and disciplined deal selection.
Chapter 2: Building Your Sourcing Edge
Discover how emerging managers can build a true sourcing edge, designing repeatable deal flow, leveraging data and relationships, and turning Fund I into a magnet for proprietary, high-quality opportunities.
Chapter 3: Fund Structure: 506(b), AIFMD & ELTIF
Learn how to design a Fund I structure that aligns incentives, balances GP economics with LP protections, and sets you up for scalable, compliant growth from first close through to Fund II.
Chapter 4: US Marketing Rules & SEC Compliance
Navigate U.S. fund marketing rules with confidence, understand the SEC’s Marketing Rule, avoid common pitfalls in performance advertising, and build LP-facing materials that are compelling and compliant.
Chapter 5: EU Fundraising Routes
Map your options for raising in Europe, understand AIFMD, NPPR, and key country nuances so you can choose a compliant, capital-efficient route to EU LPs for Fund I.
Chapter 6: Building Your LP Data Room & DDQ
Get your Fund I data room LP-ready, what to include, how to structure it, and practical checklists so you signal professionalism, reduce friction, and speed up due diligence.
Chapter 7: LP Targeting: Family Offices to Fund-of-Funds
Build a precise LP target list for Fund I, segment the universe, match LP types to your strategy, and prioritize relationships where your story, check size, and fund terms actually fit.
Chapter 8: Running Your Fundraising Process
Turn your Fund I raise into a structured, repeatable process, map each stage, build and manage an LP pipeline, keep momentum through closes, and avoid the time-sinks and dead-ends that derail first-time managers.
Chapter 9: First Close: Funnel & Metrics
Define the metrics that really matter for first close, capital raised, pipeline depth, LP quality, and proof points, so you can signal momentum and de-risk the rest of the raise.
Chapter 10: The Final Close Checklist
Lock in a strong final close, manage allocations and overage, land remaining anchor checks, tidy documentation, and use the announcement to re-position your fund, your story, and your pipeline for Fund II.
Chapter 11: LP Reporting & Communication
Build an LP reporting machine, not just PDFs, with clear metrics, narrative, and cadence that keep investors informed, aligned, and confident to re-up in future funds.
Chapter 12: Secondaries & Continuation Funds
Understand your options for early liquidity in Fund I, from GP- and LP-led secondaries to strip sales, so you can manage duration, align stakeholders, and avoid reputational landmines.
