Rethinking the GP-LP Relationship in 2025

In 2025, LPs have stepped into a more active role. From asking sharper questions to demanding real-time insights, they’ve become more operationally engaged than ever before. As private equity funds grapple with longer hold periods, fewer exits, and growing ESG expectations, the relationship between GPs and LPs is shifting fundamentally.

And for funds looking to stand out in this tighter capital environment, that shift could make or break the next raise.

What Changed in 2025?

Several trends converged this year to elevate LP expectations:

• Longer Hold Periods: With exits down 44% in Q1 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, many assets are being held far longer than planned. Nearly 30% of PE-backed companies have now been held for more than five years.
• Higher Expectations: With capital harder to deploy, LPs are evaluating performance more closely, not just waiting for returns, but seeking to understand how value is being created throughout the hold period.
• Rise of ESG and Thematic Mandates: ESG is no longer a niche ask; it’s a default requirement for many institutional investors, and they want updates integrated into portfolio and fund-level reporting, not added as an afterthought.
• Digital Sophistication on the LP Side: Many LPs have hired dedicated operations, ESG, and tech teams. They’re analysing portfolio-level data themselves and expect the same data fluency from their GPs.

What LPs Expect Today

What LPs want in 2025 isn’t just more data, it’s more visibility into execution.

They want to see how value creation plans are progressing, which portfolio company initiatives are on track, and what impact those initiatives are having on fund performance. Many are asking for:

• Operating KPIs at the asset level
• IRR contribution by initiative or lever
• Live dashboards with drill-down capability
• Integrated ESG tracking and progress

This marks a clear shift away from static quarterly reports toward more dynamic, data-rich communication.

Why Traditional Reporting Can’t Keep Up

Most firms are still relying on static, manual reporting processes that can’t adapt to evolving LP demands. These workflows are:

• Manual and error-prone
• Slow, especially for mid-quarter ad hoc requests
• Unscalable for more detailed and frequent LP asks

They force teams to spend more time formatting than analysing, wasting valuable team capacity at a time when LP expectations are higher than ever.

How Leading Funds Are Responding

The top-performing funds in 2025 are rethinking how they deliver insights, not just to LPs, but internally across portfolio and value creation teams. We’re seeing GPs shift toward:

• AI-powered dashboards that update in real time
• Initiative-level reporting that links strategy to financials
• Flexible ESG tracking that feeds directly into LP views
• Scenario modelling tools that can answer “what if” in seconds

This isn’t just about looking good for LPs, it’s about unlocking better decisions and faster execution within the firm.

The Future of the GP-LP Relationship

In 2025, it’s clear: LPs want visibility, context, and confidence.

GPs who embrace this shift and modernise their reporting and execution infrastructure will not only retain their LPs, but they’ll also stand out in an increasingly competitive fundraising environment. Those who don’t risk falling behind, because in today’s private capital market, the best firms aren’t just investing in companies, they’re investing in clarity.

Where Untap Fits In

We help GPs move from static reports to smart reporting ecosystems that adapt to modern LP expectations. With features like:

• One-Click Quarterly: Generate investor-ready reports that match your existing style
• Fund & Asset Dashboards: Interactive views tailored to LP, partner, or internal audiences
• IRR Scenario Engine: Instantly model the impact of strategic and operational shifts
• Value Creation Tracking: Monitor and manage initiatives across the portfolio in real time
• One-Data Architecture: Unify operational, financial, and ESG data from all sources
• AI-Powered Insights: Generate commentary, forecasts, and scenario analyses with minimal manual input
• Stakeholder Orchestration: Align investment, ops, and portfolio teams through collaborative workflows

Ready to Untap your potential? Let’s chat!