The core documents

Four documents do the heavy lifting in every institutional fund raise.

The PPM (private placement memorandum) is the offering document. It tells the story — strategy, market, team, track record, terms, risks. It is the document an allocator reads to decide whether to take a meeting.

The LPA (limited partnership agreement) is the governing contract. It is where the economics, governance rights, key-person provisions, default mechanics and removal rights actually live. LPs and their lawyers spend most of their time here.

The subscription agreement is the signed commitment from each LP. It contains the investor representations, accredited/qualified status, AML/KYC, and the commitment amount.

The DDQ (due diligence questionnaire) is the standardised set of questions every institutional allocator will send you. There are well-known templates — ILPA, AIMA — and you should answer all of them before anyone asks, so the data room is ready the moment a meeting goes well.

Allocators dismiss managers who show up with half-finished materials. The DDQ in particular is a fast signal of operational maturity — if you do not have one ready, you are not ready.