Deployed Capital

I. Formal Definition

The portion of an organisation's capital pool that is committed to a specific operating purpose, whether through working assets, fixed assets, or intangible investments. Deployed capital is distinguished from idle capital by the presence of a documented deployment intent and a measurable return basis. The federation treats deployed capital as the numerator of return on invested capital calculations and requires that each deployment carry a named owner, a thesis, and a horizon under UFMS-001:3.1(c). Deployments without these attributes are reclassified as idle capital.

II. Etymology

Compound of the verb deploy, of military origin, with capital; the construction entered finance via the private equity vocabulary of the 1980s.

III. Federation Usage

Federation accreditation requires deployed capital to be itemised by deployment in the quarterly capital register. Each deployment must be traceable to an investment thesis under TGS-002:2.3 and reconcilable to general ledger balances per MEV-Annex:4.1.

IV. Related Terms

• idle-capital
• capital-allocation
• roic
• capital-efficiency

V. Authoritative Citations

• UFMS-001:3.1UFMS Article III - Capital Deployment
• TGS-002:2.3TGS Title II - Capital Conduct

VI. Citation in BibTeX

@misc{ifo4_glossary_deployed_capital,
  title        = {{Deployed Capital}},
  author       = {{IFO4 Federation Editorial Board}},
  howpublished = {{IFO4 Federation Glossary, slug \texttt{deployed-capital}}},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://ifo4.org/glossary/deployed-capital},
  note         = {Category: Capital; key: DeployedCapital}
}

VII. Challenge This Definition

Federation members and accredited practitioners may challenge any entry under TGS-002:1.7. Filed challenges are routed to the editorial board, triaged into the revision register, and resolved in writing on the public docket. The slug remains stable through any revision.