Becoming a fund manager is often described as “raising a fund and deploying capital.” In reality, that’s only half the job. Once the fund is live, the real work becomes recurring. Every year, fund managers are responsible for a long list of regulatory, financial, operational, and investor-facing obligations, many of which don’t feel urgent until they suddenly are.

This is where first-time and emerging managers often struggle. The obligations are not always obvious, they don’t all happen at once, and missing one rarely causes immediate damage, but it can quietly compound risk over time.

This guide walks through what you actually need to do every year as a fund manager, not as a checklist of bullet points, but as a practical narrative that reflects how these responsibilities show up in the real world. Whether you manage a venture fund, a private credit vehicle, or multiple SPVs administered through platforms like Allocations, the underlying obligations are largely the same.

The Shift Most Managers Don’t Anticipate

Before launching a fund, most managers focus on fundraising and deal flow. After launch, the job quietly shifts toward stewardship. You are no longer just an investor—you are a fiduciary, an operator, and a reporting entity.

What makes this difficult is that most annual obligations are not daily tasks. They arrive quarterly, annually, or are triggered by specific events. Because of this spacing, they are easy to underestimate until you’re already behind.

Strong fund managers don’t just invest well; they build systems that ensure these obligations happen consistently, every year.

Annual Regulatory and Compliance Responsibilities

For many managers, regulatory compliance forms the backbone of annual obligations. The exact scope depends on your structure—whether you are a registered investment adviser, an Exempt Reporting Adviser (ERA), or operating under another exemption—but some form of annual regulatory upkeep almost always applies.

If you are an ERA, your most visible annual task is updating and renewing your Form ADV. Even if nothing material has changed, regulators expect confirmation that your disclosures remain accurate. If something has changed—assets under management, fund count, ownership, service providers—that update is not optional.

Registered advisers face a heavier burden, including ongoing compliance program reviews, policy updates, and potential examinations. Even managers who outsource compliance retain ultimate responsibility for accuracy and timeliness.

The key point is this: regulatory filings are not “set it and forget it.” They are living disclosures that require annual attention.

Tax Reporting: The Deadline That Never Moves

If compliance obligations create background risk, tax reporting creates very visible pain when missed.

Every year, fund managers must ensure that the fund’s financials are finalized and that tax documents—most commonly Schedule K-1s—are delivered to investors on time. This process is rarely as simple as pressing a button.

It typically involves:

• Finalizing fund-level financial statements

• Coordinating with tax preparers

• Reviewing allocations, expenses, and carried interest calculations

• Resolving investor-specific edge cases

Delays in any part of this chain ripple outward. Late K-1s frustrate investors, complicate their personal tax filings, and create reputational damage that is hard to undo.

Experienced managers learn quickly that tax readiness is a year-round discipline, not a Q1 scramble.

Financial Statements and Ongoing Reporting

Beyond taxes, investors increasingly expect formal financial reporting, even from smaller or emerging funds. At a minimum, this often includes annual financial statements. In more institutional contexts, quarterly financials become the norm.

These reports serve multiple purposes. They inform investors, support audits if required, and provide internal clarity on the fund’s true financial position. They also tend to surface issues early—valuation questions, expense drift, or inconsistencies that are far easier to fix sooner than later.

Managers who treat financial reporting as a formality often find themselves reacting to problems instead of managing them.

Investor Communications: The Invisible Obligation

One of the most underestimated annual responsibilities is communication.

Investors rarely demand constant updates, but they do expect consistency. Annual letters, periodic performance summaries, and clear explanations of major events are not legally mandated in all cases but they are practically essential.

Silence creates uncertainty. Uncertainty erodes trust.

Strong managers establish a rhythm: investors know when to expect updates, what level of detail they’ll receive, and where to go with questions. Over time, this consistency becomes a competitive advantage, especially when raising subsequent funds.

Capital Activity and Distributions

Not every year includes capital calls or distributions, but when they occur, they carry heavy operational weight.

Capital calls must be properly noticed, tracked, and reconciled. Distributions require accurate calculations, approval workflows, and often coordination with third parties such as brokers or custodians. Errors in either direction, over or under-distributing, can be costly and difficult to unwind.

Even in years with no capital movement, managers must ensure that the infrastructure is ready. That readiness is itself an annual responsibility.

Banking, Custody, and Account Maintenance

Fund bank accounts, custody arrangements, and authorized signatories are not static. Every year, managers should review:

• Authorized users and permissions

• Banking relationships and fees

• Custody arrangements (where applicable)

This may sound administrative, but outdated access or overlooked fees are a common source of both security risk and unnecessary expense.

For funds using third-party administrators or platforms, this is often handled collaboratively—but oversight still rests with the manager.

Service Provider Reviews

Most funds rely on a small ecosystem of service providers: administrators, auditors, tax firms, legal counsel, and sometimes valuation specialists.

An annual review of these relationships is not just good governance—it’s practical. Providers change pricing, scope, and quality over time. Funds evolve, and what worked in year one may not be appropriate in year three.

Periodic review helps ensure alignment before problems arise.

Compliance with Fund Documents

Fund documents are not just fundraising artifacts. They are operational rulebooks.

Every year, managers should revisit key provisions: investment period timelines, extension options, fee mechanics, reporting obligations, and wind-down triggers. Many issues arise not from bad intent, but from forgotten clauses.

Managers who know their documents well avoid accidental breaches and uncomfortable investor conversations.

Preparing for the Future, Not Just the Past

Perhaps the most strategic annual responsibility is forward-looking: preparing for what comes next.

This may include:

• Planning a successor fund

• Expanding into new asset classes

• Transitioning from ERA to full registration

• Institutionalizing reporting and controls

Annual reflection turns compliance from a burden into a planning tool. It forces clarity about where the fund is—and where it’s going.

Why Platforms and Administrators Matter

As fund management has professionalized, many of these recurring obligations are now supported by modern infrastructure. Platforms that handle administration, reporting, and compliance don’t remove responsibility but they dramatically reduce operational friction.

For managers running multiple vehicles or planning to scale, this infrastructure often determines whether annual obligations feel manageable or overwhelming.

Final Thoughts: Fund Management Is a Year-Round Commitment

Being a fund manager is not a seasonal role. The obligations may peak at certain times—tax season, reporting cycles but the responsibility never fully turns off.

The most successful managers are not those who scramble heroically once a year. They are the ones who build repeatable systems, respect the cadence of obligations, and treat compliance and reporting as part of the craft, not a distraction from it.

If you approach annual responsibilities with the same intentionality you bring to investing, you not only reduce risk you build trust, credibility, and durability as a manager.