Internal Rate of Return
Also written Internal Rate of Return (IRR / FIRR)
The rate at which the present value of cash outflows equals the present value of inflows.
This one is not written up yet
The definition above is the short version. A full explanation — how it works, a worked example and the exam traps — is still being written. In the meantime the chapter below covers it in context.
Written up from the same chapter
- CAGRThe single smoothed annual rate at which a starting value would have to grow, compounding each year, to reach the ending value over a given period.
- Catch-up RateThe rate at which residual profits go to the manager after investors have received their capital and preferred return, until the manager holds its agreed share of total profits.
- ClawbackAn investor right to recover carried interest already paid to the manager on early successful exits, when later failed investments mean the manager was overpaid across the fund's whole life.
- Concentration riskThe risk that a few positions are large enough, against the fund's capital, that one loss damages the whole portfolio — capped by SEBI at 25% of investable funds for Category I and II AIFs and 10% for Category III.
- Cyber Security RiskThe risk that an AIF's or its service providers' systems are breached, corrupted or disrupted — governed by SEBI's Cyber Security and Cyber Resilience Framework, which all AIFs had to comply with by 31 August 2025.
- Downside riskThe probability of a loss on account of falling asset prices in changing market conditions — the half of volatility investors actually mind, measured by maximum drawdown and value at risk.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series XIX-CRelated terms
- Distributions to Paid-in CapitalCumulative cash actually distributed to investors divided by the capital they have paid in — the realisation multiple, and the one return measure a fund cannot flatter with its own valuations.
- Economic Internal Rate of ReturnThe IRR of a project widened to include the direct and indirect economic benefits it creates, whether or not they reach the fund — as distinct from the financial IRR the fund actually earns.
- Total Value to Paid-in CapitalA fund's investment multiple: cumulative distributions plus the residual value of unsold investments, divided by paid-in capital — equivalently, DPI plus RVPI.
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