A tail-end interest, a stake in a fund ten or more years old with a few assets left, sells the same way as any LP interest: a buyer steps into your position, including any unfunded commitment, under a purchase agreement and a GP-approved transfer.5 What differs is price. Jefferies reports 10+ year tail-end interests trading at discounts of 25% or more to NAV in H1 2026, and Evercore puts tail-end pricing at roughly 70% of NAV, stable since 2022.1, 2 On The Boring Desk you list the position, the desk underwrites its NAV independently, and buyers whose mandate fits the fund's strategy, vintage and size bid on it.
What is different in this situation
- Underwriting starts from the reported NAV on the latest capital account statement and records its reference date, so a stale NAV is visible before a range goes out.
- Older funds can be listed on their own or alongside newer positions, and each position is underwritten on its own.
- Bids arrive as a percentage of NAV at a stated reference date, so every indication can be compared on the same basis.
How the sale runs on The Boring Desk
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Intake | Create a seller account, name the fund, GP, vintage, strategy and reported NAV, confirm accredited-investor status, and upload the LPA, the latest capital account statement and the most recent GP quarterly letter. |
| Underwriting | The documents are extracted, including the LPA's transfer provisions. NAV is underwritten independently against strategy and vintage benchmarks, and a banker approves the valuation before anything goes out. |
| CIM and model | The desk produces a confidential information memorandum and an Excel model for the position. |
| Marketing | A blind profile goes to buyers whose mandate matches. Buyers sign an NDA before the data room opens, and your identity is disclosed only when you authorize it. |
| Bids | Buyers submit nonbinding indications as a percentage of NAV. You accept, reject or counter each one. |
| LOI and PSA | A letter of intent, then the purchase and sale agreement, which is the binding document. |
| Transfer and GP consent | The transfer agreement and the consent requests (GP consent, and LPAC, ROFR or ROFO waivers where the LPA requires them) are sent and tracked, with reminders, until each is answered. |
| Closing and wire | Closing tax forms are collected, the transfer completes at the fund's transfer window, and the proceeds are wired. |
Transfer and pricing mechanics
Secondary prices are quoted as a percentage of NAV at a reference date. The purchase price is that percentage of reference-date NAV, minus distributions paid after the reference date, plus capital calls funded after it. A stale reference date is the classic trigger for a re-trade.4
Vintage is one of the strongest drivers of price: in H1 2026, recent vintages traded at single-digit discounts while 10+ year tail-end interests traded at 25% or more.1
Sellers commonly pair newer vintages with tail-end funds in one sale to lift the blended price.3
The interest cannot be transferred without the GP's consent, and transfers generally take effect at a quarter-end.5
What it costs
The seller pays a 3% success fee on the transaction value, owed only on settlement. No retainer and no upfront fee. Buyers pay nothing.
Sources
- Jefferies, Global Secondary Market Review, July 2026 (H1 2026), pp. 5 and 6
- Evercore, H1 2026 Secondary Market Review, p. 15
- Jefferies, Global Secondary Market Review, July 2025 (H1 2025)
- HSF Kramer, LP-led fund secondaries: what you need to know
- Ropes & Gray, considerations for institutional investors contemplating a secondary sale