MOIC (Multiple on Invested Capital)

MOIC (multiple on invested capital) is the ratio between everything an investment has returned or is worth and what was invested: MOIC = (distributions received + value of what remains) / invested capital. A MOIC of 1.5x means that each euro invested has produced, or is expected to produce, 1.5 euros; below 1x, capital has been lost. It is used mainly in private equity and real estate. In a tokenized equity offering, for example with tokens representing shares in a special purpose vehicle, it is calculated from what the holder paid for the tokens and what the position has paid out or is worth.

How it is calculated. The numerator adds two parts: what has been realized (distributions, interest, returns of capital, sale proceeds) and what is unrealized (the current valuation of what is still held). Telling them apart is key: a MOIC of 1.3x with 0.2x collected and 1.1x pending a valuation is not the same as a 1.3x already received. Fund reports use TVPI (total value to paid-in): the same idea, applied to the fund against the capital its investors have paid in.

Example: same MOIC, different IRR. An investor buys EUR 100,000 of tokens representing shares in a special purpose vehicle and receives EUR 150,000 on liquidation. The figures are illustrative:

The MOIC is the same because it ignores the clock. B's IRR is less than half of A's because the money takes twice as long to come back. Conversely, a high IRR on a very short investment can hide a small multiple: a 2x over 10 years equals an IRR of 7.18%, less than a 1.5x over 3 years. IRR answers how fast capital grows; MOIC, how many times it comes back. That is why they are read together.

Gross or net. A gross MOIC, before management fees, carried interest and expenses, can be well above the net figure the investor receives. The performance template that ILPA, the association of institutional investors in private funds, published in 2025 is not a regulation but an industry standard: it asks the fund for its net IRR and net TVPI, calculated from cash flows between the fund and its investors, and makes its gross IRR and gross MOIC optional; for the portfolio it shows gross IRR and MOIC and, for the total portfolio, net IRR and MOIC as well. In the US, an investment adviser registered (or required to be registered) with the SEC that advertises gross performance must also show net performance, with at least equal prominence and calculated over the same period and with the same methodology (17 CFR 275.206(4)-1(d)(1)).

In a tokenized offering. If distributions are paid on-chain, the realized part of each holder's MOIC can be checked against the payment history. The unrealized part still depends on an off-chain valuation: in a fund, the net asset value, which in a Spanish financial investment fund values unlisted securities at their effective value using criteria of maximum prudence (Article 78(1) of Royal Decree 1082/2012). As with IRR, someone who buys on a secondary market has their own MOIC, because their invested capital is the price they paid. More on these structures in private equity tokenization, in tokenized funds in Europe and in the SPV entry. It is used less in debt: a loan's multiple is capped by what was agreed, and what matters is the risk of not getting paid, which LTV sums up; in a participating loan, by contrast, the variable part of the interest means the final multiple is not known in advance.

Official sources: 17 CFR 275.206(4)-1 (eCFR); Royal Decree 1082/2012, Article 78 (BOE); Law 35/2003, Article 7 (BOE).

Other references (non-regulatory): ILPA, Performance Template guidance, v1.1.

Framework verified as of October 13, 2026. At Unknown Gravity we build the platform and smart contracts that record the tokens and distribute an offering's payments, so each holder can check what they have received; valuations and projections are the issuer's or the fund manager's. Talk to us.