The way you receive your news improves every day, so why should your investors continue to get the same old correspondence? Here are five evolving best practices in private fund communications: Secure channels. While old-school investors might like paper, today’s LPs prefer password-protected PDFs of their call letters, or better yet, a link to the document sitting on your secure Investor Portal. Detailed notifications. Nothing beats elegantly designed call/distribution letters where recallable capital and other adjustments are easy to notice. The ILPA’s call and distribution letter templates have been a fabulous step in this direction. Clear, easy to read quarterly reports. At a minimum, each package (delivered in a multi-page PDF) should include: Cover page Letter from your management team Capital account statement Comprehensive reports detailing how the fund and each investment is performing. Waterfall status. If GP carried interest is coming into view… share the news! Investors love hearing they’ve got their commitment dollars back, along with preferred return and 80% of the unrealized assets. Text announcements. Despite what you might think, investors love hearing from you. Give them the option to receive news of your new deals (and/or distributions) via text message. But, hold the emojis. Staying on top of best practices in fund communication is not a hardship or burden. It is a way to help your investors easily consume the news you have to share.