Loading this page
Bringing the next page into view.
Blueprint Intelligence / Data Room and DDQ / Planning for key-person events and succession
Data Room and DDQ
What would happen if a key person could not continue? Explain both the contractual response and the practical plan for looking after the fund.
The DDQ's key-person section asks two related but distinct questions: what triggers a key-person event in the fund's own documents, and what happens operationally if it is triggered. For a solo GP or a two-partner fund, the honest answer to the second question is often thin, and the section is built to surface that rather than to penalize it outright, provided the gap is named rather than glossed over.
ILPA and ILPA DDQ are marks of the Institutional Limited Partners Association. Blueprint is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or certified by ILPA.
Most fund LPAs include a key-person clause naming the individuals whose departure or incapacity triggers a defined consequence, commonly a suspension of the investment period pending LP consent to continue. The DDQ wants this stated plainly: who is named, what triggers the clause, and what happens procedurally once it is triggered. A fund that has not yet finalized this language with counsel should say so rather than describing a mechanism that is still being drafted as if it were settled.
A solo GP still needs to consider who could handle urgent responsibilities if they became unavailable. Kauffman Fellows’ Zero to Four discusses succession alongside trust and partnership dynamics. Use that as a prompt to plan, not as proof that a particular succession arrangement guarantees a firm’s durability. If no formal plan exists yet, describe the gap and the work underway.
A key-person clause and an operating continuity plan answer related but different questions. Review both with the people who would need to carry them out.
Check your governance documentation
Upload one document containing your key terms sheet or a description of your current partnership and succession structure. No signup required for your first result.
One PDF or DOCX, up to 15 MiB. Three successful free reads are shared across the library; no account is needed. This is an initial review, not an eligibility decision or a fund rating.
Perspectives by Colibrí Strategies: practical notes for GPs and the LPs who back them.
Opens Substack in a new tab, where you confirm the subscription.
Continue in this pillar
Also relevant
Upload the LP questionnaire and your current fund materials. Blueprint drafts what the evidence supports and flags what still needs your confirmation.