How to run your first capital call without losing an LP's trust

Before the notice

Read the LPA section on drawdowns before anything else. It sets the notice period, whether fees and expenses can be called, whether there is a minimum call size, and the remedy for default. Write those four numbers on one page and keep it next to you for the fund's life.

Then confirm the amount. A first call usually covers the first investment plus organisational expenses and the first management fee instalment. Calling fees alone, before any investment, is legal and common and it still produces the worst LP email you will receive this year. If you can wait for the first deal, wait.

Step 1. Calculate each LP's share

Each LP's share is their commitment divided by total commitments, times the call amount. Do it in the fund's system of record, not a spreadsheet you built that morning, and check that the per-LP amounts sum to the call amount to the cent. Rounding differences go to the GP's share, not an LP's.

Step 2. Issue the notice

Use the ILPA notice format. LPs' back offices are built around it, and a notice that matches it gets paid faster. ILPA published version 2.0 of the Capital Call and Distribution Template in September 2025; funds starting on or after Q1 2026 should use it. It must state the fund, the call date, the due date, the purpose by category (investment, fees, expenses), the LP's amount, their cumulative called and remaining commitment, and the wire instructions.

Wire instructions are the fraud surface. Put them in the portal, not in the email body, and tell LPs on the first call that you will never change instructions by email.

Step 3. Reconcile daily

From the day the notice goes out, reconcile receipts to the bank every morning. Match each wire to the LP by amount and reference, post it to the capital account, and mark the LP paid in the system. A capital account that drifts from the bank is how a first audit goes long.

Step 4. Chase before the due date

Three business days before the due date, send a short note to every LP who has not wired. Not a reminder of the remedy; a question about whether they need anything. Almost every late wire is sitting in a treasury queue.

Step 5. Close the call

When every wire is in, or the cure period has run, close the call in the system, issue updated capital account statements, and file the notice, the bank statement and the reconciliation together. That bundle is what the auditor will ask for in eleven months.

The three mistakes that worry LPs

1. Changing wire instructions by email. Even once.
2. A fee-only first call. It reads as "we are paying ourselves before doing anything."
3. A notice that does not match the LPA. Wrong notice period, a purpose the LPA does not permit, or arithmetic that does not foot. LPs read these; their lawyers certainly do.