Actionable Tips for Private Equity Pitchbooks

Creating an engaging and compelling pitchbook requires a careful balance of established best practices and creative, unique content that resonates with your audience. Recently, we shared these best practices for private equity pitchbooks in a comprehensive blog post. 

How to Create the Best Designed Private Equity Pitchbooks

Today, we’re switching gears and offering additional quick and actionable insights that lead to the best-designed pitchbooks with content that captivates the investment management industry.

How to make your investor presentation more interesting

Let’s begin with how to make your investor presentation more interesting. For starters, consider the document’s format. 

Specifically:

• Sequence of information
• Density of content
• Flow of voiceover

Tailor your narrative and design to your audience’s needs, focusing on capturing their interest and demonstrating that you’re a highly organized and sophisticated manager. To do so, the sequence of information on the slides should be consistent with the voiceover given when presented in a live setting. It is also worth considering what content may distract from the live presentation versus the content that must be written on the slide if the presentation is a leave-behind.

Consider your audience when creating a pitchbook

On the topic of your audience, your next step is carefully considering their needs when crafting a private equity pitchbook.

For example, are they veterans of private equity fundraising, or are they accredited/retail investors who need more educational content? Adapt your delivery style and content accordingly. 

If you’re targeting institutional investors with a familiar concept, it’s crucial to differentiate your approach since they’ve likely seen many similar pitches. 

We often see middle-market private equity clients in the following sectors raise this concern: 

• Industrials
• Business services
• Software
• Healthcare
• Government services

In these scenarios, it is even more crucial to clearly represent why investors should pick you. Highlight your impressive track record up front. Consider adding a slide dedicated to your operating network or proof points of notable value creation. 

Finally, weave a consistent thread of your brand identity, both in content and design, from start to finish so the pitchbook feels authentic and distinct.

Narrow your focus

Alternatively, if you’re offering a more esoteric strategy like litigation finance, your pitchbook should focus more on education. From there, you’ll want to explain why this strategy is compelling and of institutional caliber. This is particularly crucial if your strategy falls within a less understood asset class, like multi-tenant industrial real estate. 

Consider the Secondaries educational page on pws.blackstone.com. Although this is a web page aimed at accredited investors, this is an excellent example of the context and education that is often helpful in communicating the advantages and opportunities of unfamiliar investment strategies to investors. 

We often suggest the following critical steps:

• Define and break down the offering in simple terms
• Demonstrate the market opportunity and potential
• Prove that your firm and team are uniquely qualified and well-positioned to capitalize on the opportunity

Conclusion: Crafting the Best Investor Presentations for Private Equity

Patience and perseverance are key in any fundraising effort. Even with an exceptional pitchbook, the fundraising journey can still be challenging. However, a well-crafted, engaging pitchbook can provide a strategic advantage, bringing you one step closer to achieving your fundraising target. 

And remember, the current fundraising market is more challenging than ever. With that in mind, having an A+ investor presentation document can offer a significant edge.

This is precisely what Darien Group is on standby to help you with. Expert guidance on crafting the best pitchbooks in the industry is among the many investment management and private equity branding services we offer.

Your firm is one step closer to winning the funding it needs to win deals and influence LPs. Contact Darien Group today to find out how investment management branding exclusively tailored to the industry can help your firm stand out in an increasingly competitive and saturated fundraising environment.