For hedge fund allocators, manager research is rarely constrained by a lack of information. The challenge is turning the information already available — manager data, performance, factsheets, regulatory filings and peer data—into a clear view of a manager quickly enough to support an investment decision. Much of that work is still fragmented across databases, PDFs, spreadsheets and browser tabs. Radient brings these workflows together in one platform.
Here is what a manager research workflow can look like on Radient.
1. Source Emerging Managers Before They Are on Everyone's Radar
Manager sourcing doesn't have to start with a manager you already know. Radient's Fund Raise and Launches feature helps allocator teams identify newly launched funds and emerging managers entering the market. Instead of waiting for managers to come through existing networks, teams can proactively build a pipeline of managers that may warrant further research. From there, the manager can move directly into the research workflow.
2. Find Established Managers Using Investment Criteria
For established managers, the starting point may be a specific investment mandate. Using Radient's Screener allocators can screen the broader hedge fund universe based on the metrics they actually care about.
- Annual return
- Sharpe and Sortino
- Volatility
- Maximum drawdown
- AUM
- Strategy
- Geography
This allows an allocator to move from a broad universe to a focused research list. The result is not an investment decision. It is a better starting point for finding managers that matches their mandate.
3. Turn Manager Factsheets Into Researchable Fund Data
Once managers enters the pipeline, the next bottleneck is often the fund materials such as factsheet, investor presentation, etc. Allocator teams receive manager materials in different formats, often as PDFs, and extracting the relevant information into internal systems can become a repetitive manual exercise.
With Radient DocsAI, teams can upload fund factsheets (multiple funds documents together) into Radient, and our AI automatically extracts the relevant fund information such as returns, exposures, fund terms, and set up the funds on the platform. Radient also automatically calculates annualized return, volatility, sharpe ratio, sortino ratio, drawdowns, and other metrics, dynamically as per the selected time period. The fund is also connected to the broader Radient dataset rather than remaining a standalone PDF sitting in an inbox or shared folder.
The workflow becomes:
Manager factsheet → Structured fund → Research → Benchmark → Due diligence
4. Put the Manager in Context
A manager's numbers mean little without context.
Once a fund is set up in Radient, allocators can identify peer funds and compare managers across performance and risk characteristics.
Instead of asking only:
"Did this fund generate attractive returns?"
the research process can move toward:
"How did this manager perform relative to comparable funds, and what level of risk did it take to get there?"
Comparing returns alongside Sharpe, Sortino, volatility, drawdown and other relevant metrics gives the investment team a more complete view of the manager.
5. Go From the Factsheet to Independent Due Diligence
The manager's factsheet is only one input into the research process. Radient connects funds and managers with relevant regulatory information, including Form ADV, 13F, Form D and other filings, allowing allocators to go deeper for compliance aspect. This creates an additional layer of diligence:
Manager-provided information → Regulatory data → Cross-check → Investigate
Instead of manually searching for filings and trying to connect them back to the manager, the relevant regulatory information is linked to the manager within Radient, instantly.
This can help surface information that warrants a closer look—from changes in manager characteristics to reported holdings and other regulatory signals.
From Discovery to Due Diligence
A connected manager research process:
DISCOVER
Find emerging managers through fund launches and fund raises.
↓
SCREEN
Identify established managers using performance, risk, strategy, AUM and other criteria.
↓
INGEST
Turn manager factsheets into structured fund data with DocsAI.
↓
BENCHMARK
Compare the manager against relevant peers.
↓
DUE DILIGENCE
Connect the fund to regulatory filings and investigate potential risk flags.
↓
SHORTLIST
Bring the most relevant managers forward for deeper qualitative research and IC discussion.
Radient brings manager sourcing, quantitative screening, factsheet parsing, peer benchmarking and regulatory research into one workflow—so investment teams can spend less time moving information between systems and manual workflows, and more time making investment decisions and evaluating the managers.
Is Your Manager Research Workflow Still Manual?
Allocator teams shouldn't have to spend their research time collecting and reconciling information across disconnected systems. If your team is still relying on manual workflows for manager research, let us show you what a connected workflow looks like with Radient.
