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A thoughtful paper offers perspective on the changing nature of performance persistence in alternative investments and some recommendations for changing manager selection practices.

Information about performance gets sliced and diced in innumerable ways. Additional quantifiable attributes of asset managers have also been studied, but other factors (ones that really matter) are difficult to analyze.

This fourth in a series of postings takes a broader look at some of the precepts of anthropology as they apply to the craft of due diligence.

What length of time makes sense when you are evaluating the performance of an asset manager? A research survey makes judgments in response to the industry’s standard frame.

Due diligence encounters are dominated by impression management. Those doing the work need to be skeptical and employ tactics that will go past the narrative to add value.

Among the challenges for those evaluating investment strategies and managers is not being fooled by changes in relative valuation that may be transitory.

You’ve probably seen colors used to categorize manager performance, in normal practice and in response to regulatory mandates. A few thoughts on the implications of those hurdles.

The outcome of due diligence encounters depends on the quality of the questions that are asked and the conduct of the interviews. Some recommendations in that regard close out this series.

Two articles from more than twenty years ago offer tactics for those doing due diligence that are just as important as they were then (and yet are still somewhat rare).

An examination of Pimco prompts a series of questions that get at important due diligence and manager selection considerations.

How can outside research on uncommon topics provide insight for the manager selection process? This is the second of two related postings.

Confidence is highly prized in the investment world, even though the essence of the endeavor involves uncertainty. Perhaps there is an unappreciated superpower worth discovering.

There is no way to “get it all” when doing due diligence. There will always be gaps in information. It is important to acknowledge them, and to avoid passing the narrative of others along as your own point of view.

If this really is a people business, as everyone says, then getting better at analyzing that aspect of asset management organizations (or other kinds of investment organizations, for that matter) should be at the top of the to-do list.

Manager selection practices must be designed to navigate one big problem that never goes away. Here are a couple of examples of how it manifests itself.