How do family offices find deals that match their mandate?
Last reviewed: 17 September 2026
By separating the two problems. Networks, advisers, managers and databases determine what arrives. An encoded mandate determines what qualifies. Offices that treat these as one problem end up either starved of flow or buried in it.
Key takeaways
- /Curation is a filter that persists. A curated list from someone else is only as good as their understanding of your criteria.
- /Encoding criteria once, then applying them to every inbound deal, is what makes curation repeatable rather than personal.
- /Reuben AI keeps the screen, the diligence and the decision in one record so the reasoning survives staff changes.
- /Hub: /deal-matching-and-curation. Family office context: /for-family-office-networks.
On the supply side, most family office flow comes from relationships: other families, club deals, managers already in the portfolio, advisers and operating partners. Databases and origination services can add reach, and services such as SourceCo describe building target lists and approaching owners directly on an acquirer's behalf.
None of that addresses fit. An origination service can only apply the brief it was given, and the brief is usually a paragraph. When the same criteria are written in full and held by the platform, every opportunity is tested against the whole definition rather than a summary of it.
The practical setup is unglamorous. All inbound flow lands in one workspace, the mandate screens it, the shortlist goes to the weekly review, and the rest is archived with reasons. Over a year that produces both better use of the team's time and a defensible account of the funnel.
Neutral profile: /competitive-landscape/sourceco. Hub: /deal-matching-and-curation.
How Reuben AI compares
Supply of deals compared with fit of deals
| Attribute | Reuben AI | Allocator or company database | Matchmaking or introduction service |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it answers | Does this specific opportunity satisfy our written mandate | Who exists and how to contact them | Who might be interested in this raise |
| Who defines fit | You do, once, as a mandate the platform applies to everything inbound | Nobody. Filters are on data fields, not criteria | The intermediary, using a profile |
| Who the provider works for | The allocator. Reuben AI is software, not a broker or a marketplace | The subscriber buying the data | Usually the party raising capital |
| What survives afterwards | The screen, the reasoning, the diligence and the monitoring, on one record | A contact list and an export | An introduction and an email thread |
| Declined opportunities | Kept with the reason attached, so the funnel is explainable | Not applicable | Not captured |
Curation as an operating habit
Curation is often outsourced, to a network, an adviser or a placement relationship. That works while volumes are low and the relationship is close, and it stops working the moment the criteria change or the person moves on.
The alternative is not more meetings. It is a written mandate that describes the boundary conditions of the portfolio precisely enough that a system can apply it, and a record of every opportunity tested against it.
The practical effect is that the review meeting starts from a ranked, reasoned shortlist rather than from an inbox.
What has to be written down
Strategy and stage, sectors in and out, geography, vehicle types accepted, cheque range, ownership and control preferences, liquidity horizon, concentration limits and any exclusions the family or committee has agreed.
Most of this already exists across an investment policy statement, a committee paper and several conversations. Consolidating it is a one-off exercise that changes the quality of every subsequent screen.
Guidance on writing criteria a platform can apply: /answers/how-to-write-an-investment-mandate-a-platform-can-screen-against.
Where the record lives afterwards
A curation process that ends in an email thread produces nothing durable. The same screen, run inside the platform that also holds diligence, the memo and portfolio monitoring, produces a continuous file.
That continuity is what lets a committee answer why a position exists, what was believed at entry and whether that belief has since been tested.
A workable curation process
- 01Are the criteria written in one place and agreed by the decision makers?
- 02Is every inbound opportunity tested against them, including referrals?
- 03Is the reason for a pass recorded at the time?
- 04Does the shortlist arrive ranked, with the reasoning visible?
- 05Can the same criteria be revised and the change dated?
Frequently asked questions
Does Reuben AI run a deal marketplace or introduce investors to managers?
No. Reuben AI is software, not a broker, marketplace or placement agent, and it does not sell an allocator database or make introductions. What it does is hold your investment criteria as a mandate and apply them consistently to every opportunity that reaches your own workspace, then carry that judgement through diligence, the memo and portfolio monitoring.
Can Reuben AI sit alongside the databases and networks we already use?
Yes. Databases and networks change what arrives. Reuben AI changes what happens to it once it arrives. Most teams keep their sourcing relationships and use Reuben AI as the filter and the record behind them. Vendor map: /competitive-landscape.
Where do we start?
Request a guided trial, write your criteria into a mandate, then run the next quarter of inbound opportunities through it. Onboarding quoted separately. Plans: /pricing.
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