Advisory Retainer

    Fractional Capital Markets Team, On Retainer, Not Per-Deal

    Deal structuring, capital stack design, LP term negotiation, and ongoing investor relations, without hiring a full capital markets team.

    TL;DR

    A fractional capital markets team on monthly retainer: deal structuring, capital stack optimization, LP term negotiation, investor relations operations, and quarterly LP updates. Built for sponsors closing 2–6 deals per year.

    Book a strategy call See pricingFrom $1,960/mo (Flagship), 3-month minimum
    • Deal structuring on every transaction
    • LP term negotiation support
    • Quarterly investor reporting
    • Direct line to senior advisors

    The problem

    A full capital markets hire costs $180K–$320K base + bonus and takes 4–6 months to recruit. Most active sponsors don't need that headcount full-time but desperately need that brain on every deal, for capital stack design, debt term sheet review, LP negotiation, and investor relations between raises.

    What we do

    Monthly retainer = senior capital markets advisors on call. Every deal gets a capital stack review (senior debt + mezz + pref + GP equity). Every LP term sheet gets negotiated. Every quarter your existing LPs get a polished update written by us. Cancel anytime after the 3-month minimum.

    What's included

    • Capital stack design for every new deal
    • Debt term sheet negotiation (senior, bridge, mezz)
    • LP subscription term negotiation
    • Monthly strategy call with senior advisor
    • Quarterly LP update letter (drafted + sent)
    • Annual investor day support (deck, agenda, logistics)
    • Deal pipeline review (which deals to pursue, which to pass)
    • Direct Slack/SMS line to advisor team

    How it works

    1. 1

      Onboarding (Week 1)

      Audit of current portfolio, LP base, capital stack patterns, and reporting cadence.

    2. 2

      First strategy call (Week 1)

      Senior advisor assigned. 90-min deep-dive on next 2–3 transactions in pipeline.

    3. 3

      Embedded into deal flow (ongoing)

      Every new deal flows through capital stack review before LOI. LP terms negotiated before sub docs.

    4. 4

      Quarterly cadence (ongoing)

      LP update drafted and sent. Pipeline reviewed. Strategy adjusted based on closed-vs-target.

    Best fit for

    • Active sponsors closing 2–6 deals per year
    • Fund managers between Fund I and Fund II
    • Family-office-backed sponsors managing institutional capital
    • M&A platforms doing rolling acquisitions

    Not a fit if

    • Single-deal sponsors (use à la carte services)
    • Pre-PPM founders (we'll start there first)
    • Sponsors looking for a guarantee of raised capital
    Real result

    $22M deployed across 4 deals in 9 months

    Industrial sponsor on a $1,960/mo retainer, capital stack restructured to add preferred equity tier, increasing GP equity returns by 380bps.

    Frequently asked questions

    Fractional CFOs handle accounting, FP&A, and back-office finance. We handle capital markets, designing the capital stack, negotiating LP terms, and running investor relations. Most sponsors need both, and the two roles don't overlap.
    No, we work alongside counsel. We negotiate the commercial terms (waterfall, fees, hurdles, side letters) so your lawyer just papers what we agreed. This typically cuts legal bills 40–60% per deal because counsel isn't structuring from scratch.
    Same-day response on Slack/SMS for active deals. 24-hour turnaround on document reviews. For closing-week sprints, we're on standby, most sponsors close deals on Fridays so we calendar accordingly.
    Yes, many Flagship clients combine the advisory retainer with active LP outreach. The retainer covers strategy + structure; the outreach service drives net-new LP introductions. Bundled price is the same $1,960/mo since outreach is included in Flagship.
    Use our à la carte services instead, PPM drafting, pitch deck, financial model, and outreach are all available individually under Self-Serve ($3,339 one-time).
    Never. All fees are flat monthly retainers. We're explicitly not in any deal economics, that's the bright-line that keeps us out of broker-dealer territory and aligned with sponsors as advisors, not partners.

    Related services & guides

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