The six levels, one at a time. No. 5: Manager
Back the Jockey, Check the Stable
Everyone says they back the people. Fewer check whether the people made the returns.
By Katriona Lee, Reuben AI. Updated .
The short answer
Manager diligence assesses the GP, its team and track record across funds. It asks whether past performance belongs to the people in the room, whether the process is repeatable, and whether the operational controls hold, separating what the manager says from what has been independently confirmed.
"Back the jockey, not the horse" is the oldest line in investing. It is also incomplete. A great jockey on a badly run stable still loses races. Manager diligence is checking both: the people, and the operation that sits behind every fund and deal they run.
Most of the evidence comes from the manager. That is not a reason to distrust it, but it is a reason to sort it. Tap each claim to see what to do with it.
Is the record theirs?
A track record is a list of decisions. The question is who made them. If the partner behind the best deals left two funds ago, the record belongs to someone else. Attribution is the unglamorous work of matching each result to the people and process that produced it.
Is the process repeatable?
One great deal is a story. A pattern across funds is a process. Look for the same discipline in how deals are found, tested and approved, and for what happened when the process said no.
Manager assessments go stale
People leave. Administrators change. Policies get rewritten. An assessment filed once and reopened a year later is out of date in ways nobody has noticed. Keep it as a maintained record linked to every fund and deal the manager runs, so a change shows up where it matters. More on the manager level.
Manager
The GP, its team and track record across funds.
What to check
Track record attribution, team stability, decision rights, process and operational controls.
Typical evidence gaps
Self-reported claims not independently confirmed, key-person changes, stale assessments.
Receives from below
Findings from fund level, with sources attached.
Passes up
A maintained view of the firm across every fund and deal it runs. Next: portfolio.
Previous: Wrappers Matter. Next: The Portfolio You Actually Own.
Questions and answers
What is manager diligence?
Manager diligence assesses the GP, its team and track record across funds. It is the manager level of the six levels of private markets.
What does track record attribution mean?
Checking whether past performance was produced by the people presenting it today, under the process they describe, rather than by people who have since left or by market conditions alone.
What is the difference between self-reported and independent evidence?
Self-reported evidence comes from the manager, such as a questionnaire. Independent evidence comes from a third party, such as an audit, an administrator confirmation or a public register.
How often should a manager assessment be refreshed?
Whenever something material changes, such as a key person leaving or a service provider changing, and on a regular review cycle agreed by the investor.
Does Reuben AI rate managers?
No. Reuben AI keeps the evidence on each manager linked to its funds and deals, marking what is self-reported and what is confirmed. Judgement stays human.
Reuben AI is built as one linked record across all six levels of private markets. See it on your own deals, or explore what it could add for your platform's clients.
Read next: The six levels of private markets diligence or browse the Resource Hub.