Diligence at scale
As lead cheque sizes have grown from $100–200 million five years ago to $500 million–$1 billion today1, secondary investors are approaching diligence more rigorously, drawing on tools traditionally associated with primary buyout managers. Board and observer seats are increasingly common features of large, concentrated deals. For GPs, this represents a more demanding process than many anticipate, but the depth of engagement is itself a mark of how seriously the best assets are taken.
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At the end of the day, when we are investing continuation vehicles, we want to buy an asset and make a great return for our LPs.
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That means we need to be able to underwrite the asset perfectly, and we are really thorough.
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We turn every stone, we speak to the GP multiple times, to the management teams.
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We go through all the materials and we keep pushing and pushing and pushing.
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We do our own external due diligence. We just need to understand that this is going to be a great investment.
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This is the operating performance. It’s the valuation, the exit opportunity.
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We speak to all players in the ecosystem to make sure that this is going to be a great investment for our investors.
1 Nigel Dawn, Evercore. (2026, April). “GP-Led Continuation Funds Panel”, Coller Capital LP Meeting.
