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Investing in alternatives is a mix of art and science.

Private markets can beat public markets. But not all funds are created equal.

Manager selection is critical in alternative assets like venture capital, real estate and private equity, where the universe of investment options dwarfs those available in public markets.

0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
Top Quartile
Net IRR
Median
Net IRR
Bottom Quartile
Net IRR
10.6%
19.03%
3.15%
Forecast S&P 500
2020-2030
You can see this in how the top and bottom performing private managers, unlike their public market peers, are separated by a wide spread. Generating above-average, risk-adjusted returns in these markets requires not only access to top-tier funds but the expertise to vet, qualify and understand the risks of each.
Gridline develops long-term partnerships with exceptional and rare individuals committed to delivering strong investment performance to our users. These managers have unique analytical talent, anticipate market movements, exhibit portfolio management skills and have the deep conviction to outperform on a long-term basis in ways others can’t match.

Here is how we do it.

Access to Top Managers

Our direct experience in alternatives stretches back over two decades including investing in over 200 General Partners.

Our shareholders represent: 5 family offices, 15 funds and 1 global law firm serving as primary fund counsel to more than 500 investment fund organizations.

We not only have access to well-known funds but the knowledge that emerging fund managers regularly beat both public benchmarks and private market peers.

We systematically analyze the massive universe of investment opportunities across emerging and established managers, asset classes, strategies and regions to create a comprehensive menu of opportunities to pick managers from.

The Four P’s: Our Art & Science Framework

We select outstanding performers with an evaluation process focused on four principles — People, Process, Performance and Philosophy. This framework uses quantitative and qualitative techniques to get an informed view of each manager, separating those who are truly skilled from those who just got lucky.

Performance
People
Process
Philosophy

The Investment Process

We're just as rigorous in our monitoring and ongoing due diligence. We undertake in-depth reviews each quarter, benchmarking funds and seeking explanations for returns that vary dramatically (positively or negatively) from benchmarks or category averages.

Transparency is important.

This evaluation process is summarized for you, as an investor or fiduciary, in a few key pieces of information.

Fund Overview

The “tear sheet” includes critical information that explains the investment strategy and gives you a 30,000-foot view of the fund. It includes details like:

The Fund's Team
Investment Process & Thesis
Investment Examples
Past Performance
Fee/Economic Disclosures

Gridline Perspective

This perspective is a synopsis of everything that went into ensuring the evaluation process is robust and unbiased. Learn why our experts think this is a sound investment. You’ll get our take on what gives the fund’s team a unique edge, as well as their investment process, risk management procedures, and growth plans.

Due Diligence Questionnaire

The DDQ digs into the granular details of the fund’s operations, legal structure, compensation structure, regulatory compliance, and reliance on third-party service providers.

Our goal is to deliver access to the highest quality investment opportunities so that you can capture superior returns.
Performance
Gridline has developed a set of quantitative screening tools to analyze performance to Public Market Equivalents (did the manager benefit from a general uptick in markets or truly outperform), and compare a fund’s performance to a customized peer group of funds with similar investment styles. We evaluate the performance of all funds over the last 10 years, not just the most recent vintage, and only engage funds above the median of the broader index of returns.
People
Private market investing is a hiring decision, and we seek to better understand if a team possesses unique analytical talent, anticipates market movements, exhibits portfolio management skills, and has deep conviction that allows them to outperform on a long-term basis. We find teams that have worked together through at least a full economic cycle (in the current firm or predecessor firm) and are built to last multiple generations of investment talent.
Process
Process yields repeatability and helps identify managers whose success has been based on their investment skill and process, rather than luck. We look for well documented investment processes from sourcing to exiting, with clear decision making based on individual accountability. We seek to understand if the manager’s formal process and guidelines added value to the overall process and serve as effective checks on the emotional aspects of investing.
Philosophy
We prefer long time horizon strategies, where fund managers are not distracted by short term noise or near term results. The fund is continuously searching for and partnering with proven external resources to gain the diversity of thought, deep conviction, and accountability. Most importantly, there is a high degree of alignment of interest with investors with a focus on the structure of the organization, management of asset capacity, and fee/economic terms.
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Disclaimer
This site is operated by Gridline Holdings, LLC ("Gridline"). Gridline does not give investment advice, endorsement, analysis or recommendations with respect to any securities. All securities listed here are being offered by, and all information included on this site is the responsibility of, the applicable issuer of such securities. Gridline has not taken any steps to verify the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information. Neither Gridline nor any of its officers, directors, agents and employees makes any warranty, express or implied, of any kind whatsoever related to the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or the use of information on this site. By accessing this site and any pages thereof, you agree to be bound by the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Past performance is not indicative of future results. All securities involve risk and may result in significant losses. Investing in alternative investment funds is inherently risky and illiquid, involves a high degree of risk, and is suitable only for sophisticated and qualified investors. Investors must be able to afford the loss of their entire investment. Alternative investment funds should only be part of an investor’s overall investment portfolio. Further, the alternative investment fund portion of an investor’s portfolio should include a balanced portfolio of different alternative investments. Investments in alternative investment funds are speculative and involve a high degree of risk and those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest. Additionally, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted securities that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or limited liquidity. Investments in Alternative investment funds are generally highly illiquid and those investors who cannot hold an investment for the long term should not invest.

Any specific alternative investments funds referenced on this site are included purely for illustrative purposes and selected based on name recognition. Such examples are only partial, and readers should not assume that the investments identified were or will be profitable or are representative of investments by the alternative investment funds identified on this site. There is no guarantee that any alternative investment fund will achieve the same exposure to, or quality of, investments held by any existing fund referenced on this site.

Nothing on this page shall constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in any investment partnership or other security. Any offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in an investment partnership may be made only by way of the partnership's final definitive confidential disclosure document and other offering and governance documents of any given fund (collectively, “Offering Documents”). The information on this site is qualified in its entirety and limited by reference to such Offering Documents, and in the event of any inconsistency between this site and such Offering Documents, the Offering Documents shall control. In making an investment decision, investors must rely on their own examination of the offering and the terms of any offering. Investors should not construe the contents of this site as legal, tax, investment or other advice, or a recommendation to purchase or sell any particular security.

The information included in this site is based upon information reasonably available to Gridline. Furthermore, the information included in this site has been obtained from sources Gridline believes to be reliable; however, these sources cannot be guaranteed as to their accuracy or completeness. No representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, is given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein, and no liability is accepted for the accuracy or completeness of any such information. This site may contain certain “forward-looking statements,” which may be identified by the use of such words as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “planned,” “estimated,” “potential,” “outlook,” “forecast,” “plan” and other similar terms. All such forward-looking statements are conditional and are subject to various factors, including, without limitation, general and local economic conditions, changing levels of competition within certain industries and markets, changes in legislation or regulation, and other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory and technological factors, any or all of which could cause actual results to differ materially from projected results.

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