In the past, the industry competed on scale, deal count, and star cases. Now, LP concerns are returning to three of the most fundamental questions: How much has been deployed? What remains on the books? How much has actually been returned?

As the industry shifts from incremental expansion to stock management and the exit cycle, fund performance can no longer be proven by stories alone; it requires a ruler that can be publicly benchmarked and tracked over the long term.

Recently, LP Consultant officially released the LP Consultant RMB Fund Performance Benchmark (2026) (hereinafter referred to as the Benchmark (2026)). As an industry infrastructure-level report released for the 6th consecutive year, the benchmark includes 2,946 RMB VC/PE funds, presenting the real performance of funds from different vintage years through core metrics such as Net IRR, TVPI, and DPI.

Within this objective and rigorous industry coordinate system, two funds under Efung Capital—Shenzhen Qianhai Efung Taihe Equity Investment Fund Enterprise (Limited Partnership) (2013 Vintage) and Shenzhen Efung Ruiyi Investment Center (Limited Partnership) (2016 Vintage)—have both ranked in the top 25% (Top Quartile) of funds of the same vintage. This is based on their balanced performance across three core metrics: TVPI (Total Value to Paid-In), DPI (Distributions to Paid-In), and Net IRR (Net Internal Rate of Return). Both funds were awarded the "Fund Performance Benchmark Certificate" by LP Consultant.

01
The Only RMB Fund "Ruler": Why Top Quartile?

In overseas and some domestic evaluation systems, USD funds and RMB funds are often compared together. However, the two have essential differences in fundraising environments, investment pacing, and exit channels; simple mixed comparisons can easily be misleading.

As currently the only domestic performance benchmark specifically targeting RMB funds, with a sample that excludes USD funds, the 2,946 funds in LP Consultant's Benchmark (2026) uniformly adopt December 31, 2025, as the data benchmarking date, ensuring the scientific validity of horizontal comparisons. [1]

Data shows that RMB funds are fully transitioning from an incremental era to a stock era. In the sample, 62.4% of funds have entered the exit period, extension period, or liquidation stage. In the current environment of rising exit difficulties, DPI (actual cash distributions) is replacing book valuations to become a hard indicator for testing a fund's true return capability.

The report points out that to achieve a DPI of 1x (breaking even), top-quartile funds are mainly distributed among the 2016, 2017, and 2018 vintages, requiring 8-10 years; while median funds require as long as 11 years.

For LPs, TVPI answers "how much the assets appear to be worth now," while DPI answers "how much has already been returned." The gap between the two represents both potential returns and unrealized risks. Therefore, evaluating a fund cannot rely solely on IRR, nor solely on TVPI. It is necessary to look at Net IRR, TVPI, and DPI together, and make a comprehensive judgment based on the fund's vintage year, current stage, and underlying asset conditions.

02
An Answer Sheet That Withstands Third-Party Verification: Top 25% Among 2,946 Funds

This time, both Efung Taihe (2013 Vintage) and Efung Ruiyi (2016 Vintage) entered the top 25%. Behind the data, this means the performance of these two funds within their respective cycles is above the median of funds from the same period; at the same time, in terms of book returns (TVPI) and cash returns (DPI), their performance has also undergone objective comparison against a third-party benchmark.

If the LP Consultant benchmark is the "horizontal coordinate" for measuring a fund's position in the national market, then the long-term tracking and evaluation from state-owned LPs is the "vertical ruler" for testing a fund's exit capability.

According to the performance evaluation results published by the Shenzhen Municipal Government Investment Guidance Fund, Efung Ruiyi has consecutively won the Top 10 of the Comprehensive Ranking (Exit Period) for Market-oriented Sub-funds in the performance evaluations of 2020, 2022, and 2024. [2, 3]

Performance evaluations by government guidance funds are known for their strict standards and focus on actual results, especially the "Exit Period" ranking, which greatly tests the manager's DPI conversion capability and compliant operation level. Being repeatedly selected in the "Exit Period" Top 10 is the continuous recognition of Efung Ruiyi's actual exit performance by state-owned LPs, and also confirms that Efung possesses the steady exit capability to navigate through industry cycles and convert underlying assets into real cash in the face of cyclical market fluctuations.

03
Rejecting the "Average Illusion": Building a Common Language with Real Data

Data from the Benchmark (2026) shows that fund performance has obvious unbalanced characteristics; a small number of high-return funds may significantly pull up the average.

Take newly established funds in 2025 as an example: the average Net IRR appears to be as high as 14.49%, but the median is actually -1.39%. Looking at the average detached from the fund lifecycle and quartiles often leads to incorrect conclusions. The real market truth is: performance divergence is becoming the norm. Under the same macroeconomic environment and exit cycle, the investment research, post-investment, and exit capabilities of different managers are opening up huge gaps.

Facing this divergence, Efung Capital will continue to deeply cultivate the healthcare sector, not blindly following trends, and focusing on original innovative drugs and high-end medical devices. At the same time, it will remain pragmatic in DPI and exit paths—in the stock era, it will not only look at the book valuation of projects, but pay more attention to converting underlying assets into LP cash returns step by step through IPOs, M&A, equity transfers, and other methods. We will continuously enhance post-investment empowerment and asset disposal capabilities, and repay every bit of trust with solid exit performance.

Data Sources:

1、

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/e0Xc4dVz-WifJypnGqjWOQ?scene=1&click_id=1244148815

2、https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/0FIY0oCdYgHWxAy5cCgQTw

3、https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Qha0d_-6BRHagNRHhWJPgQ

[Disclaimer]
The content of this article represents only the views of the company based on current public information and materials provided by portfolio companies. It does not constitute any investment advice, medical advice, or guarantee of the performance of specific companies. Investing involves risks, and caution is required when entering the market. Readers should make independent judgments based on public information. Unauthorized reproduction or commercial use is prohibited.