Can I publish VC fund performance on my website?

What the rule text actually requires

The summary below follows the codified United States adviser marketing rule, 17 CFR 275.206(4)-1. It applies to advisers registered or required to register with the SEC. Confirm the applicable rule, current staff guidance and any conditions or exceptions with counsel before using a performance presentation.

• Gross performance may not be presented unless the advertisement also presents net performance with at least equal prominence to, and in a format designed to facilitate comparison with, the gross performance, calculated over the same time period.
• The prescribed one-, five- and ten-year periods apply to performance other than private-fund performance. Paragraph (d)(2) expressly excludes private funds from that requirement; the other applicable performance and anti-misleading provisions still matter.
• No statement, express or implied, that the calculation or presentation has been approved or reviewed by the Commission.
• Related performance must include all related portfolios, subject to a narrow exclusion where the advertised results are not materially higher as a result.
• Extracted performance, meaning results pulled from a larger portfolio, requires that the advertisement provide, or offer to provide promptly, the performance of the total portfolio it came from.
• Hypothetical performance, defined as results not actually achieved by any portfolio of the adviser, requires policies making it relevant to the intended audience, sufficient information for the recipient to understand the criteria and assumptions, and the risks and limitations. Target returns and projections sit inside this definition.
• Predecessor performance requires that the people primarily responsible manage accounts at the advertising adviser, that the prior accounts be sufficiently similar, that all substantially similar accounts be included unless exclusion does not produce materially higher results, and that clear and prominent disclosure be given that the results were achieved at another entity.

The specific things managers most want to publish

Each of these has a reason it is harder than it looks.

• Fund-level returns. Private-fund performance is excluded from the prescribed one-, five- and ten-year periods, but applicable gross/net, disclosure and anti-misleading requirements remain. Explain the valuation basis when results depend on unrealized holdings.
• A single investment’s multiple. Extracted performance raises total-portfolio and gross/net presentation questions. Review the rule and applicable SEC staff guidance with counsel before publishing a selected result.
• Gross returns alone. Not permitted in an advertisement without net at equal prominence, in a comparable format, over the same period.
• Target returns. These are hypothetical performance by definition, since they were not achieved by any portfolio, and they carry the full set of hypothetical conditions.
• Projections and modelled outcomes. Same category, same conditions, including the requirement that the adviser have policies making the presentation relevant to the intended audience.
• Prior-firm results. Permitted only on the four predecessor conditions, and separately dependent on the prior firm's permission, which is a contractual question rather than a regulatory one.
• Testimonials and endorsements. Regulated communications with their own disclosure and oversight requirements, and a category where an enthusiastic founder quote is not a neutral piece of website copy.
• Rankings and awards. Third-party ratings carry their own conditions, and a badge on a website is a performance-adjacent claim rather than decoration.
• Selected outcomes. Explain how investments were selected and show the context needed to avoid a misleading picture. Related-portfolio and extracted-performance provisions may apply.

Public educational content against offering material

Start by identifying what the communication does. Its label alone does not determine which rules apply.

Educational content explains how something works: how a data room is organised, how a construction model is built, what a diligence questionnaire asks. It makes no claim about your results and offers nothing.

Offering material invites or supports an investment decision. Its audience and distribution must fit the offering route. For example, Rule 506(b) prohibits general solicitation, while Rule 506(c) permits it subject to conditions including accredited-investor verification. Adviser advertising rules are a separate review.

A practical starting point is to explain the firm, team, strategy and published thinking, then have counsel review any fund-specific invitation or performance presentation. The website guide in this library works through that distinction.

Why a disclaimer is not a safe harbor

Disclaimers can explain risk and context. They cannot substitute for an applicable presentation requirement, such as a comparable net figure or sufficient information about hypothetical assumptions. Check the presentation itself before adding the disclosure.

The second problem is that a disclaimer cannot cure a presentation that is misleading through what it includes or excludes. If the selection is the problem, adding text below the selection does not fix the selection.

This is also why copying another firm's website language is a poor strategy. That firm may be a different kind of adviser, marketing under a different route, in a different jurisdiction, with performance you cannot see the basis for.

The counsel-review checklist

Take this to counsel rather than resolving it yourself. It is a list of what to ask about, not a list of answers, and nothing on this page is legal advice.

• Which regulator's rules apply to us, given where we are established, where our adviser entity sits, and where our investors are?
• Which offering route are we using, and does it permit general solicitation at all?
• Does this page constitute an advertisement, a financial promotion, or a marketing communication under each applicable regime?
• If we show any performance, what is the net figure, how is it calculated, and does the presentation satisfy the equal prominence and comparable format requirements?
• Are we showing extracted performance, and if so how do we provide the total portfolio's results?
• Are any of our figures hypothetical, including targets, projections, or modelled outcomes, and what policies and disclosures do they require?
• Are any results from a prior firm, and do we satisfy the predecessor conditions and hold written permission?
• Do any quotes, endorsements, rankings, or awards on the site trigger testimonial or third-party rating requirements?
• What records must we keep to substantiate every claim on demand, and who maintains them?
• Who reviews the site before changes go live, and how often is it re-reviewed?

What changes outside the United States

Other regimes reach similar destinations by different routes, and a page satisfying one does not satisfy another.

In the United Kingdom, the relevant fund-marketing permissions, private-placement notifications and financial-promotion rules depend on the manager, fund and audience. In the EU, the cited pre-marketing framework applies to EU AIFMs testing interest among potential professional investors and includes content limits and a two-week home-authority notification. Other manager categories and national rules need separate review.

A public website can reach audiences beyond the jurisdiction you had in mind. Agree the intended audience, content and distribution controls with counsel.

What this page does not do

It does not tell you whether your specific page is compliant, and it cannot. That depends on your adviser status, your offering route, your jurisdictions, and the numbers themselves, all of which need counsel who can see the actual materials.

This is a summary of the codified rule, not a complete account of every exception or subsequent staff interpretation. Use the current rule and guidance when reviewing an actual presentation.

This page is educational and general. It is not legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice, and marketing materials containing performance should be reviewed by counsel before publication.