AGM Season in Full Swing - Why Strategic GPs Invest in Meaningful Gatherings
AGM season is here.
Most funds are booking hotel conference rooms and ordering sandwiches.
The best funds? They're creating strategic experiences.
Not because it's extravagant. Because they understand something critical:
Your AGM is the highest-leverage event for ensuring LP re-ups—especially when capital is scarce.
The AGM Nobody Remembers
The typical fund AGM:
Hotel conference room
PowerPoint with portfolio updates
Mediocre lunch
60% attendance if you're lucky
Everyone checking email during presentations
Done by 3pm, everyone relieved it's over
You have your LPs in one room, once a year. And you're wasting it on compliance theater.
In an environment where LPs are cutting allocations and being hyper-selective about relationships, this approach is particularly dangerous.
What the Best US Funds Do Differently
Benchmark, Sequoia, Founders Fund—they don't do AGMs. They create substance-driven experiences.
Why?
LPs can read your quarterly letters. They don't need to fly across the country for portfolio updates they already have.
In a tough fundraising environment, they come for:
Insights that genuinely impact their decision-making
Access to information and people that provide unique insights
Evidence that you're navigating this market thoughtfully
Confidence that their capital is with the right manager for the long term
The best funds deliver all four.
The Five Elements That Work
1. Location That Reflects Thoughtfulness
**Consider:** Generic hotel conference room
**Preferred:** Your best portfolio company's headquarters
Best: Location that demonstrates judgment and creates focus
Sequoia hosts at Napa Valley vineyards. a16z uses distinctive venues. Benchmark selects exclusive San Francisco locations.
The signal: "We're thoughtful about everything—including how we bring you together."
This reflects thoughtful attention to detail in creating the right environment for meaningful dialogue.
2. Speakers Who Deliver Real Value
**Standard approach:** Your portfolio companies presenting
**More effective:** Industry leaders with genuine insight
Best: People who shift perspective and help LPs make better decisions
Founders Fund brings in technical experts who explain what's actually happening. Benchmark gets founders before they're overexposed.
The payoff: LPs associate your fund with intellectual rigor and proprietary insight—exactly what matters when capital is tight.
3. Real Portfolio Access
**Standard approach:** Scripted presentations
**More effective:** Authentic founder conversations about what's working (and what isn't)
Best: Transparent, substantive discussions about navigating difficult markets
Founders Fund provides actual exposure to portfolio technology. Top funds facilitate honest conversations about runway, burn, and path to profitability.
Why it works: LPs see you're managing actively and thoughtfully. They understand the real work you're doing to support companies through challenging conditions.
4. Networking That Creates Value
**Standard approach:** Open room, awkward mingles
**More effective:** Structured discussions with thoughtful groupings
Best: Curated connections that solve actual LP needs
Top funds use:
Assigned seating based on LP interests and expertise
Small group discussions around pressing market themes
Facilitated introductions by the GP
Meaningful post-event follow-through
The result: Your LPs start helping each other. Your fund becomes the center of a valuable network—something especially important when everyone's being more selective.
5. The "Worth the Trip" Factor
The best AGMs earn attendance.
How:
Content LPs find particularly valuable
Access to people and insights that matter right now
Honest conversations about the market
Tangible value that justifies the time investment
Result: 95%+ attendance rates and LPs blocking calendars a year in advance.
The Real ROI
Week after: LPs emailing about co-investment opportunities from conversations they had
Month after: LPs introducing you to other institutions: "I'd recommend meeting this team. I just came back from their AGM..."
Quarter after: LPs proactively discussing increased commitments before you formally ask
Fund II: 90%+ re-up rate because the relationship is too deep and too valuable to leave
What European Funds Miss
Most European funds treat AGMs like reporting requirements.
Stand-up presentations. Hotel rooms. Efficient but forgettable.
Meanwhile, top US funds turn AGMs into relationship deepeners—which matters enormously when fundraising timelines have doubled and LP selectivity has tripled.
But here's the thing: Some European funds are figuring this out.
I just attended my second year at a GP's AGM at Beaverbrook. Same location, second year running.
Why it works:
Location: Beaverbrook creates the right environment for real conversation
People: LPs who came year one made sure they didn't miss next year
Content: Substantive speakers and genuine portfolio dialogue, not just deck presentations
Connection: Structured experiences that create real relationships
Most importantly: It's an investment in the partnership. And it signals everything about how this GP thinks long-term.
The LPs aren't there for compliance. They're there because the value is undeniable.
That's the standard.
This approach reflects an understanding of what builds loyalty in difficult markets:
Substance over flash matters more when LPs are scrutinizing every relationship
Transparency and insight are more valuable than polish and spin
Making LPs feel valued is more important than making them feel managed
Key Takeaway
Your AGM is not a meeting. It's a signal.
A signal about who you are, what you value, and whether you're worth staying with for the next decade—especially when LPs are cutting managers and concentrating capital.
Bad AGMs say: "We're doing the minimum required."
Great AGMs say: "We think deeply about this partnership and earn your continued trust."
The best US funds understand this instinctively.
They don't host AGMs to report. They create experiences that reinforce why this relationship matters.
The result: LPs who feel like genuine partners, not just capital sources. Who advocate for you. Who maintain or increase allocations during tough markets. Who show up year after year because the value is undeniable.
If your LP attendance is below 85%, your AGM isn't working.
If LPs don't reference your AGM months later, you're missing the opportunity.
If you're not creating experiences worth attending, you're just another fund—and that's increasingly dangerous.
The best funds know: The AGM is where loyalty is built and re-ups are won.
Everything else is just paperwork.
