A fund’s name or headline return tells only part of the story. The investment mandate, the people making decisions and the terms governing an investor’s participation are central to understanding it.
Read the mandate
The mandate should describe the intended assets, geographic scope, concentration limits and use of borrowing or derivatives where applicable. A broad label such as “global” or “alternative” does not explain these exposures. The objective should be considered alongside the risks that the strategy is permitted to take.
People, responsibilities and records
Manager experience matters, but a review should also ask who values the assets, holds them, administers investor records and provides independent checks where applicable. Past performance needs context: period, currency, fees, benchmark, losses and whether results are actual or hypothetical. None of these factors guarantees future returns.
Net outcomes and access to capital
Entry charges, ongoing expenses and performance-related fees can reduce investor outcomes. The basis and timing of charges should be understood, including fees at more than one level of a structure. A quoted gross result and the investor’s net result are not interchangeable.
Redemption windows, notice periods, lock-ups, suspension powers and the liquidity of underlying holdings should be read together. A published asset value does not necessarily mean that cash is available at that price on demand.
The EXAM perspective
EXAM INVESTMENT treats fund selection as a question of strategy, structure and alignment with objectives—not a league table of past returns. This page describes assessment topics and does not offer a fund, confirm availability or determine eligibility.