Appendix 1
Topics for Due Diligence
History of Firm
Founded when, by whom and with what amount of seed AUM?
Background of key decision makers?
Organizational structure (management/decision making)?
Is there an investment committee and what is its role in overall asset allocation decisions?
Which individuals cover which markets?
What is the NAV (total and breakdown by fund)?
What is the legal structure of the fund?
Are there any cross shareholdings between legal entities? If so, to what extent?
Is the fund incorporated in any unusual offshore jurisdictions? If so, why chosen?
Any apparent conflicts of interest?
Investors
What is the minimum investment in each fund (typically found in the offering memo)?
What is the history of fund raising (may be obvious in financials)?
How much capital raised (initially and in recent periods)?
What has been the withdrawal history (obtain history of capital in/outflows and fees)?
What is the capital raising and marketing strategy?
What is the background of the major investors?
What is the redemption policy?
What percentage of the AUM is invested by high-net-worth individuals?
What percentage of the AUM is invested by institutions (examples)?
What percentage of the AUM is invested by Funds of Funds?
Amount of principals' money invested and in which funds?
Are there any concentrations of AUM held by certain investors or investor types?
Percentage of AUM held by the largest investor?
Percentage of total AUM owned by the top five/10 investors by ...
