What Records Should Support a Manager's Claimed Investment Results?

A claimed investment result should be traceable from the original investment through every material cash flow to either proceeds received or a documented value still held. Request records that let you rebuild a sample result, then check whether the manager's role and the return calculation match the claim.

Follow the Investment From Entry to Exit

Ask for a deal-level schedule showing entry date, capital invested, follow-on funding, partial exits, cash proceeds, current value, and status. For a realized investment, request the purchase and sale or repayment documents, closing statements, and records supporting proceeds received. Compare those records with fund statements, administrator schedules, and investor reporting. For a write-off or loss, ask for the documents and dates that support the reported outcome.

For an unrealized holding, request the valuation date, method, assumptions, and any third-party evidence the manager used. Check that the same investment appears consistently across reporting periods, or ask for an explanation when its value or classification changes. Do not treat a manager's estimate as cash returned.

Confirm Whose Record It Is

A manager may present results from a predecessor firm, a separate account, a personal investment, or a fund. Ask which entity owned each investment, who made the decisions, and what the manager's responsibilities were. Request records showing the team's involvement and the basis for attributing that result to the present firm. A result associated with a person is not automatically a result of the fund you are evaluating.

Check that the schedule includes unsuccessful deals, write-offs, and investments that remain unresolved, along with successful exits. Ask for the complete population used to prepare the presentation. If the manager provides only selected examples, ask how those examples were chosen and compare them with the fund's full reporting.

Rebuild the Performance Calculation

Request the dated cash flows and amounts used to calculate IRR and the multiple. Ask whether each measure is gross or net and how it treats management fees, operating expenses, financing costs, and performance allocations. Rebuild a sample calculation, then compare deal-level figures with fund-level performance. Ask the manager to explain any gap between investment results and returns reported to investors.

Confirm the period and investor group covered. Partial realizations, follow-on capital, and the timing of contributions can affect how results appear. For fund reporting, compare cash flows and investor statements to the return schedule. A separate review of whether reported returns include all costs is available in testing net returns after fees and expenses.

Questions to Ask and Checklist

Ask for records in a way that ties each claim to a source:

• "Can you provide the complete investment schedule, including losses and write-offs?"
• "Which entity owned this investment, and what was your team's role?"
• "What documents support the cash proceeds and the value of remaining holdings?"
• "Can I trace the cash flow dates and amounts behind this IRR and multiple?"

For each material result, gather:

• Investment and exit documents, including closing statements.
• Fund or account statements and administrator records.
• Cash flow dates and amounts used in the calculation.
• Valuation support for holdings that have not been sold.
• Evidence of the manager's role and ownership attribution.
• A reconciliation to investor reporting, including material differences.

Keep a record of the source for each figure. If the evidence does not support a claim, mark it unresolved in your analysis. See how to verify a fund's reported track record for the wider track record review.

Go deeper: How should past performance be adjusted for changes in a manager's team or strategy?; How can a family office tell whether returns came from skill or market conditions?; What should an investor examine in a fund's audited financial statements?.

look for consistency in the team to ensure that the track record being reviewed is the true long-term track record of the current fund management executives in place.

Sources: Family Office Club investor due diligence framework, The Family Office Book. Informational only, not financial, legal or tax advice.