What financial slides should a fund manager's deck include?
Short answer
A fund manager's deck should show the numbers an investor tests first. That means a fee breakdown, projected returns, the equity split, the preferred return and the big assumptions the deal depends on. I would keep these to a few clean slides inside a deck of roughly 10 to 19 pages. Many managers talk to a securities attorney about how to present return projections.
Think about what a sharp investor does with your deck. They hunt for the numbers, and they hunt for the weak spots in those numbers. So your financial slides should answer the obvious questions before anyone has to ask them.
What a diligence checklist looks at first
At Family Office Club we built an AI due diligence tool that runs a full report on a deal from a pitch deck or PPM. It shows what a careful investor reviews. If you raise capital, you can run your own deck through the same kind of tool and see what a sophisticated investor would find.
This clip walks through what the diligence analysis covers, including the financial items and the risk review.
Summary and key takeaways from this video
"It does a deal summary, a fee breakdown, internal rate of return, equity splits, preferred return type details."
I read that list as a rough outline for your financial slides. Here is how I would turn it into slides:
- A deal summary slide with the size of the raise, the strategy and the basic terms.
- A fee breakdown that shows every fee in plain language.
- Projected internal rate of return, with the assumptions behind it.
- The equity split between the investors and the sponsor.
- The preferred return and how it works.
Show your big assumptions before they find them
The tool also looks at first principles. It asks which huge assumptions would break the deal if they turned out wrong. It then gives a risk matrix that rates each risk as low, medium or high, with a short reason. It also scores signal to noise, which means is this hype or is there real substance.
You can borrow that structure. Add a slide that names your two or three biggest assumptions and why you believe them. Add a plain risk slide too. Many investors respond well to a manager who names the risks first.
Projections and track record claims deserve extra care. Many managers talk to a securities attorney about how to present them before the deck goes out.
Keep the financial slides inside a short deck
The more valuable the investor, the less time they have. I tell our members that most decks run 40 to 70 pages, and most should be 10 to 19 pages. I once suggested hiding the word Mickey Mouse on page 27 of a long deck. Even people close to you may not read that far.
This clip explains why a concise deck of 10 to 19 pages gets read and a 44 page deck does not.
Summary and key takeaways from this video
So give the financials a handful of slides, not twenty. Put the details in a separate document for investors who ask.
Match the depth to the raise. In my experience, a quarter of a million may need only a one page teaser, while a raise of 2 or 5 million often calls for the full deck, the video, the website and the one pager. The larger the raise and the more sophisticated the investor, the more detailed and the more concise your materials both need to be.
Here I explain how the size of your raise should shape how much material you build.
More from my talks
One more point on where your numbers live. A common mistake I see is a manager with a pitch deck but nothing short that makes anyone want to open it. I have seen people send a 42 page deck with no concise piece in front of it. Put your headline financials on the one pager too, such as the fee structure, the preferred return and the equity split. Your deck does not matter if you cannot get someone's attention to open it, so let the short document earn the click and let the financial slides hold up once they do.
"The first one is that their materials don't do them justice, and they're actually hurting them. The second is they don't have a one-pager. They have a pitch deck, but they have nothing concise that then gets someone motivated to open a 42-page pitch deck."
"This is so critical. Like, your pitch deck does not matter if you can't get someone's attention to open your pitch deck."
Key facts
- Our AI diligence analysis covers a deal summary, fee breakdown, internal rate of return, equity splits and preferred return details.
- Most pitch decks run 40 to 70 pages, while most should be just 10 to 19 pages.
- Our pitch deck scoring tool reviews a deck against 25 criteria.
Sources
From Richard C. Wilson's Centimillionaire Strategies YouTube channel: AI Instant Due Diligence Advisor: Using Artificial Intelligence to Quickly Vet and Screen Deals, Social Media, Advertising, $1M mistakes | Top Insights & Strategies | Capital Raising Workshop, Investment Pitch Decks & Capital Raising Materials | Ep 6. Quotes come from the video captions, lightly edited for readability. Figures are the speakers' own estimates and experience.
General education only. Not legal, tax or investment advice.
Talk to a securities attorney to explore options around return projection presentation, track record claims and offering documents. Do not use AI to write your own legal agreements.
Your next steps
- 1List your fees, equity split and preferred return in plain language on one page.
- 2Write down your three biggest assumptions and the reason behind each.
- 3Cut the deck to 10 to 19 pages and move extra detail to a separate document.
- 4Run your deck through a diligence tool and answer the questions it raises.
- 5Consider talking with a securities attorney about how to present projections and performance claims.
Follow-up questions
How many pages should a fund manager's pitch deck be?
I recommend 10 to 19 pages. Most decks run 40 to 70 pages, and the more valuable investors have the least time to read them.
Should I include a risk slide?
Yes. Naming your key risks and biggest assumptions yourself shows you have thought them through. An investor running diligence will look for them anyway.
Can I use AI to find gaps in my financial slides?
Yes. You can upload your PPM and pitch deck to a diligence tool and ask what a smart investor would ask. Then check every answer, because AI can guess or get things wrong.
Related questions
- What is an investor teaser and what goes in it?An investor teaser is a one-page, one-sided PDF that tells an investor what your deal is and why it is compelling in two or three ways.
- How long should an investor pitch deck be?Keep your investor pitch deck to about 10 to 19 pages.
- How do I explain my startup idea to investors?Start with the customer problem, then explain in plain language how your startup addresses it.
- How do you pitch an investor for the first time?I would pitch an investor for the first time by keeping the conversation short, relevant, and focused on their interests.
Work through it with the data room checklist. See all pitch decks resources.