Hurdle Rate meaning | What is a Hurdle Rate? | bunch (2024)

The hurdle rate is a concept used in investing, specifically within venture capital funds, representing a benchmark return that must be surpassed before the fund manager can claim any carried interest. This is the minimum acceptable return on an investment, establishing a threshold to ensure managers are only compensated when they generate significant returns for their investors.

There are typically two types of hurdle rates - "hard" and "soft".
A hard hurdle means the manager only receives payment on the returns that surpass the hurdle rate. Conversely, a soft hurdle means that once the hurdle rate is met, the manager gets paid on all the returns, including those below the hurdle.

The actual percentage set as a hurdle rate can vary, but it is often associated with a risk-free rate of return or a predetermined fixed rate.

The hurdle rate aligns the interests of fund managers and investors by ensuring that managers are incentivised to exceed specific return targets before collecting their performance fees. However, the details of the hurdle rate, such as its level and whether it's hard or soft, can significantly impact the fund's payout structure. As such, investors should understand how these factors might affect their potential returns.

Hurdle Rate meaning | What is a Hurdle Rate? | bunch (2024)

FAQs

Hurdle Rate meaning | What is a Hurdle Rate? | bunch? ›

Definition. The hurdle rate

hurdle rate
In business and for engineering economics in both industrial engineering and civil engineering practice, the minimum acceptable rate of return, often abbreviated MARR, or hurdle rate is the minimum rate of return on a project a manager or company is willing to accept before starting a project, given its risk and the ...
https://en.wikipedia.org › Minimum_acceptable_rate_of_return
is the minimum rate of return that a pre-seed venture capital investor expects to receive before they will invest in a startup. It acts as a benchmark for evaluating investment opportunities and helps investors determine if a particular startup is worth investing in.

What is hurdle rate in simple words? ›

The definition of hurdle rate is the minimum required rate of return on a financial proposition for it to receive the green light. This hurdle rate concept can be applied to investments and business projects. The greater the risk involved in an investment, the higher the hurdle rate will be.

What is hurdle rating? ›

The hurdle rate is the minimum rate of return on an investment that will offset its costs. The internal rate of return is the amount above the break-even point that an investment may earn. A favorable decision on a project can be expected only if the internal rate of return is equal to or above the hurdle rate.

What is a good hurdle rate? ›

It acts as a performance threshold that ensures limited partners (LPs) get a certain return on their investment before the general partners receive theirs. Hurdle rates in private equity typically range from 7% to 8% but can vary based on the fund's strategy and the agreement between LPs and GPs.

How to calculate hurdle rate with an example? ›

Calculating Hurdle Rate

Here is the formula: Cost of capital + risk premium = hurdle rate. For example, if an investor's cost of capital is 5%, and the risk premium for a specific investment is 3%, the hurdle rate would be 5% plus 3% or 8%.

What is an example of hurdle? ›

It can mean "to leap over especially while running," as in "She hurdled the fence," and it can mean "to overcome or surmount," as in "They've had to hurdle significant financial obstacles." The verb hurdle is always transitive; that is, there's always a thing being hurdled, whether it be a physical obstacle or a ...

What is another word for hurdle rate? ›

The hurdle rate is frequently used as synonym of cutoff rate, benchmark and cost of capital.

What is a hurdle rate on IDeaS? ›

An example of a third party yield system is IDeaS. Hurdle rates, or decision rates, are fictional rates to help decide if a rate type is open or closed based on the request. This is done by comparing the total value of the hurdle rates for the same period.

What is an example of a hard hurdle rate? ›

A hard hurdle rate means that incentive fees are only collected on returns in excess of the benchmark. For example, if a hedge fund returned 25% with a 10% hurdle rate, incentive fees would be collected on the excess return of 15%.

What is the expected hurdle rate? ›

A hurdle rate, also known as a minimum acceptable rate of return (MARR), is the lowest rate of return managers or investors expect to receive on an investment or a project. It is a benchmark for evaluating whether potential investments are financially viable and worth pursuing.

How do you achieve the hurdle rate? ›

A hurdle rate is an organisation's minimum IRR, for a given level of risk. All proposals of this level of risk need to meet or exceed the hurdle rate, to be considered further. Proposals that fail to achieve the hurdle rate are rejected.

What are the disadvantages of hurdle rate? ›

A few potential disadvantages exist to set a hurdle rate for capital investment projects.
  • It can lead to sub-optimal decision-making if the rate is set too high. ...
  • The hurdle rate can create a bias against new and innovative projects since these often have higher risks and lower expected returns.

What is hurdle rate technique? ›

There are several ways to calculate hurdle rate, including using the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and net present value (NPV) as part of a discounted cash flow analysis. For example, in the case of a discounted cash flow analysis, cash flows are discounted using a set rate.

Which of the following best describes the hurdle rate? ›

The Hurdle Rate refers to the minimum acceptable return required on an investment or project for it to be considered feasible.

What is the meaning of hurdles in life? ›

a problem that you must solve or deal with before you can make progress: face/overcome a hurdle The first hurdle she faced entering the job market was one of confidence.

What is a hurdle in statistics? ›

Hurdle Models are a class of models for count data that help handle excess zeros and overdispersion.

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