The Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) and Cambridge Associates (CA), with the support of LAVCA and other investment industry associations, announced their pledge to employ the term “key person” to replace “key man” in all Limited Partner Agreements (LPAs), as well as other documents, on a goforward basis. 

(Press Release) January 29, 2019 (Washington, DC and Boston, MA) – The Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) and Cambridge Associates (CA) today pledged, and encouraged other stakeholders in the private equity and venture capital industries, to employ the term “key person” in all legal references on a goforward basis. The gender-neutral term will permanently replace “key man” in all Limited Partner Agreements (LPAs) as well as other documents and best practice discussions which refer to executives vital to the operation of a fund.

Joining ILPA and CA in their support of the future use of this terminology are more than a dozen private equity and venture capital associations from around the world including: The American Investment Council (AIC), the Australian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association Limited (AVCAL), The Brazilian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (ABVCAP), the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA), Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA), the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA), the Hong Kong Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (HKVCA), the Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (IVCA), Invest Europe, the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America (LAVCA), the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), the New Zealand Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (NZVCA), and the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA).

“This focused change is one that ILPA is committed to advance in the private equity industry and we applaud all those who join us in doing so. Words matter and the term ‘key man’ is outdated and overdue for replacement. ILPA will continue to use ‘key person’ in our resources, guidelines, model documents and principles, and we encourage our members as well as our partners in the legal community to do the same,” said Steve Nelson, CEO of ILPA.

“Research has shown time and again that diversity of thought and perspective leads to better investment returns, better business strategies and stronger organizations overall. We’re committed to helping the investment industry become more diverse and inclusive. A small step is to apply ‘key person’ exclusively in all legal references, and we ask our clients and others in the ecosystem to commit to the same standard,” said Andrea Auerbach, Head of Global Private Investments at Cambridge Associates.

As part of the campaign to effect change and establish the “key person” terminology as the industry standard, GPs, LPs, advisors, fund-of funds, law firms and others are invited to share their own commitment in a public statement and on social media using the hashtag #keypersonpledge.