The AGM deck LPs remember: turning the portfolio review into a story

Make the year make sense

The AGM is once a year, in a room full of people who already gave you money. The deck has one job: make the year make sense. What gets it there:

• Open with where the fund stands and what changed this year.
• Use the thesis as the spine, and group the companies into chapters under it.
• Go deep on a few stories instead of giving every company the same slide.
• Be candid about the companies that are struggling.
• End on what happens next, not on “thank you”.

The structure

The thesis is the spine

The default portfolio review is a roll call: one slide per company, same layout, in alphabetical or investment order. Every company gets equal time, and by the tenth slide the room has stopped telling them apart.

A story needs a spine, and the fund already has one: its thesis. Restate it, then group the companies into chapters under it. A grouping that works for most funds:

• Working. The companies where the thesis is clearly playing out.
• Working on it. The ones still finding their way, and what would change that.
• Lessons. The ones that taught the fund something, said plainly.

Each chapter opens with one slide that says what it shows. Within it, two or three companies get the full story and the rest appear together on a single slide. That’s what makes the review something LPs can repeat to their own committee afterwards.

Every company appears, a few get the time

Every company should be visible somewhere, so nobody wonders what was left out. But equal weight in the live deck is the trap. Put every company in a chapter overview and in the appendix table, and give the stage time to the stories that explain the year: the breakout, the one that changed direction, the one that taught you something.

Candour builds the trust

LPs already know some companies are struggling; the question is whether you’ll say so. A write-down presented well builds more trust than another success story. The format I’d use on one slide:

• What we saw. Why the fund invested, in a sentence.
• What happened. The facts, without blame, with the mark and its date.
• What we changed. What the fund does differently because of it.

The mark goes on the slide in the same style as every other unrealised value in the deck. Showing your track record in an LP deck covers the chart conventions for the performance section.

As long as the agenda, and no longer

The length follows the meeting, not the other way round. Work out how long each section has on the agenda, then give each one only the slides it can actually present in that time, with room for questions. Anything that can’t be presented moves to the appendix. A deck built that way finishes on time, and the full data is still there for anyone who wants it.

Two versions, one system

The deck in the room and the PDF that goes out afterwards do different jobs. The live deck is built to be presented: big headlines, one point per slide, the detail spoken. The PDF is read by LPs who weren’t there and by the ones who were and want to check something, so it needs the detail on the page.

• Cut for the room: dense tables, footnotes, every-company slides.
• Add for the PDF: a sentence of context under each headline, the appendix, the methodology note.

Both use the same design system as the fund’s quarterly LP updates, so the AGM reads as the annual edition of something LPs already know how to read.

A short brief and a template

Founder spotlights are often the part LPs enjoy most, and the part most likely to break the deck: different fonts, a sales pitch, twice the time allowed. A one-page brief fixes most of it. Give each founder the question their slot answers, the time they have, a slide limit, and a template in the fund’s design. Ask for the slides early enough to bring them into the deck so the guest section looks like part of the meeting.

Chapters, not slides

I design AGM presentations as part of the same system as a fund’s LP deck and quarterly updates. The work starts before any slide: agreeing the spine, which companies go in which chapter, and which few get told in depth. After that, the design is mostly consistency. The same chart for performance as in the updates, the same treatment for every write-down, chapter openers that tell the room where they are. The numbers stay exactly as the fund reports them.

If the companies in the review are technical, explaining complex technology covers how to make them clear to a room of generalists.

What should be included in a VC fund AGM presentation?

A VC fund AGM presentation usually covers the year in summary, fund performance, a check on whether the thesis is holding, a portfolio review, a candid section on companies under pressure, founder spotlights, and the road ahead, with the full portfolio data in an appendix. The portfolio review works best grouped into chapters under the thesis rather than as one slide per company.

How long should an LP annual meeting presentation be?

An LP annual meeting presentation should be as long as the agenda allows and no longer: each section gets only the slides it can present in its time, with room for questions. Everything else moves to an appendix, which also goes into the PDF sent afterwards, so the detail is available without slowing the room down.

How do you present the portfolio at an LP annual meeting?

The portfolio at an LP annual meeting is best presented as a story with the fund’s thesis as the spine: companies grouped into chapters such as working, working on it and lessons, two or three told in depth, and the rest shown together. Every company still appears, in a chapter overview and in the appendix, so nothing looks left out.

How should write-downs be shown to LPs?

Write-downs should be shown to LPs openly, on their own slide: why the fund invested, what happened, the current mark with its date, and what the fund has changed as a result. The mark is styled like every other unrealised value in the deck. Presented this way, a write-down builds trust, because it shows how the manager handles what goes wrong.

Should portfolio founders present at the AGM?

Portfolio founders presenting at the AGM is often a highlight for LPs, as long as each founder has a short brief: the question their slot answers, the time they have, a slide limit and a template in the fund’s design. Bringing their slides into the fund’s deck ahead of the meeting keeps the guest section consistent with the rest.

Should the AGM deck be sent to LPs afterwards?

The AGM deck is usually sent to LPs afterwards, as a PDF edition built for reading rather than presenting: a sentence of context under each headline, the full appendix and the methodology note added back in. It reaches LPs who couldn’t attend, and it gives the ones who did a version they can share with their own committee.

When the year was eventful and the deck is a roll call

That’s the work. AGM presentations and LP decks covers how Overslide works with funds, and quarterly LP updates covers the system the AGM deck shares. All the guides are on the guides page.