Sector fixture
In practiceDiligence for private credit managers.
The ILPA private-credit module of 2025, operationalised — with the logic the framework leaves implicit on attribution, evergreen liquidity, and covenant quality.
Live on the engine. Source-backed outputs. Versioned review.
The sector
Private credit has moved from a niche allocation to a mainstream mandate. The average single-family office private-markets allocation reached 22 percent of assets by the end of 2025, up from 16 percent in 2019, with credit taking a growing share. ILPA added a private-credit module to its DDQ in 2025 — the first standardisation attempt for the sector. The tooling to run it has not followed.
The diligence gap
Evaluating a credit manager means separating prior-firm performance from current-entity performance, testing whether an evergreen fund's liquidity promise survives stress, and reading covenant quality against institutional thresholds. A generic synthesis does none of these. It accepts a self-reported track record as verified and reviews a standard LPA without asking the questions an open-end credit structure demands.
What the fixture produces
- A track-record analysis that distinguishes prior-firm performance from current-entity performance, with an explicit attribution-letter check.
- An evergreen-fund assessment, where it applies, covering redemption gates, NAV methodology, and the independence of the valuation agent.
- A covenant analysis testing cov-lite concentration, PIK exposure, and single-obligor concentration against institutional thresholds.
- A Releasability Score across five named dimensions, naming what is missing rather than what is present.
What the fixture includes
Document set
- ILPA DDQ response with the private-credit module
- Audited track record
- Limited partnership agreement
- Portfolio holdings and concentration schedule
- Evergreen fund terms (where applicable)
- Representative credit agreement (where applicable)
- Valuation policy and procedures
- Compliance program documentation
- Operational infrastructure documentation
- Workout and restructuring history (where applicable)
Risk flags
- Unaudited track record
- Evergreen redemption gate above 20 percent of NAV
- Track-record attribution without a prior-firm letter
- No independent valuation agent
- Cov-lite concentration above 40 percent
- Single-obligor concentration above 10 percent
- SEC examination findings
- Fund administrator not independent
- Key-person provisions absent
- PIK exposure above 20 percent
Releasability dimensions
- Track record verifiability30%
- Fund terms adequacy25%
- Portfolio transparency20%
- Operational infrastructure15%
- Compliance history10%
Sample output
An eleven-section manager assessment — strategy through allocation signal — with a Releasability Score and a record of findings that span more than one document.
Without this fixture
The most common private-credit failure is treating an unattributed track record as verified performance. Left untested, it surfaces at the advisory-committee meeting rather than in diligence.
Who uses this
- Senior advisors at multi-family offices managing credit allocations across a fragmented manager universe.
- Investment teams at endowments and foundations adding private credit to their mandates.
- OCIOs conducting manager diligence on behalf of clients with credit exposure.
Every fixture clears the same floor the eight workflows did — measured against an authored data room before release, against the standard set out in what we measure.