78% of LPs Say Track Record Decides New Manager Selection: How to Write Outreach That Leads With Realized Results

A global survey of 225 institutional investors, fielded from June to August 2026 and reported on 23 October, found that 78% name track record as the decisive criterion when they add a new manager. About half cite access to new strategies or asset classes, 39% cite specialist expertise and 35% cite diversification across sectors or regions. The same survey found that slow distributions are the most frequently named constraint on deployment, at 35%, and that 37% of LPs expect to deploy more than last year, down from 43%. For a GP writing to an LP, those figures argue for a particular shape of first message: lead with what you have already delivered, and keep the rest short. The steps below are our advice, built on the survey's numbers, not on anything the survey itself recommends. Our market view of the survey sets out the full set of figures.

What the survey says about manager selection

The percentages are shares of the 225 respondents, and respondents could cite several factors, so they do not add to 100%. Nearly even numbers sit in the Americas and EMEA, and under 20% are in Asia Pacific. The survey does not report the figures by LP type or by capital, so we cannot say whether a pension fund weighs these factors differently from a family office. Treat them as a guide to what an institutional reader is likely to look for, not as a rule for any one investor.

Why the first email should open with results

When 78% say track record decides, an email that opens with strategy, team background or market outlook asks the reader to wait for the part they care about most. Slow distributions make this sharper. An LP waiting for cash back is likely to read realized outcomes more closely than projections, and our playbook on raising a fund while LPs wait for distributions covers that mindset in more depth. The reasoning here is ours.

Step one: choose the realized fact that is hardest to dispute

Pick one result that a reader can check and that you can document: cash returned to investors on a named fund, expressed as DPI, or a full exit with the year and your role. Prefer a realized number to an unrealized mark. State the fund, the vintage and the date of the figure, and say plainly if it is net or gross. If your best result is unrealized, say that it is, and say what it is marked against.

Step two: connect it to access, in one sentence

About half of respondents value access to new strategies or asset classes. If your strategy is genuinely distinct, say how, in a single sentence that a reader can repeat to a colleague. Avoid adjectives. A clause such as "we buy small-format logistics assets in secondary German cities and have sold three" is more useful than "a differentiated approach to European real estate."

Step three: show specialist depth with one proof point

With 39% citing specialist expertise, one concrete example is better than a list of credentials. Name a decision your team made that others would not have, and what happened. Keep it to a line.

Step four: make a small, dated ask

Ask for a short call, name the window, and say what you will send beforehand, such as a one-page summary of your realized record. Our earlier finding that LPs rank response speed in their top three commitment factors applies after the first reply: have the materials ready, including the sort of documents covered in our LP diligence pack guide.

A worked example

This example is hypothetical, and the figures in it are invented for illustration. A manager raising a second real estate credit fund writes to a pension consultant: "Our first fund has returned 62% of paid-in capital as of 30 June, net, across eleven loans repaid in full. We lend against small-format industrial in Western Europe and are raising a second fund. I can send a one-page record of every repayment, with dates, and would welcome fifteen minutes next week to hear what you need to see." Note that every figure is dated, the claim is realized and the ask is specific. Whatever figure you choose must be true and supportable.

What not to do

Do not lead with projected returns, and do not present a target as if it were an outcome. Performance claims in marketing material can be regulated, so check the wording with your compliance counsel and our glossary entry on the marketing rule before sending. Do not stack five proof points in one email, do not attach a long deck to a first message, and do not cite a result you cannot document.

What to watch next

Watch for the full survey tables, for whether the share of LPs planning to deploy more recovers as distributions improve, and for how the weight on track record changes if realizations pick up. FundLinx members can see which LPs are active in your strategy.

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