By Mindaugas Suklevicius, Founder and Fund Manager at HF Quarters
Today’s emerging manager does more than raise capital they understand the importance of delivering a clear, transparent, and credible narrative. Family offices and high-net-worth investors have become a powerful force in private markets, with rapid growth in their numbers and a continued shift toward alternatives. For these investors, the first filter is increasingly the strength, coherence, and regulatory discipline behind the manager’s story.
A compelling narrative under MiFID-aligned expectations typically rests on three pillars:
1. A clearly defined market niche, supported by robust research and transparent risk disclosures;
2. A repeatable and evidence-based investment process, demonstrating governance, oversight, and operational structure;
3. A strong human component, where experience, track record, and decision-making frameworks are clearly articulated.
Family offices are expanding their allocations across private debt, hedge funds, real estate, and infrastructure seeking diversification, resilience, and returns. At the same time, they are behaving more like institutional allocators, applying rigorous due diligence in line with MiFID II-style standards. This includes deeper reviews of strategy alignment, team credentials, valuation practices, fee transparency, cybersecurity robustness, conflicts-of-interest management, and overall compliance culture.
Within this context, fund domicile has become an increasingly important signalling factor. Jurisdictions such as Cayman and Luxembourg remain dominant because of tax neutrality, regulatory quality, and investor familiarity. Meanwhile, ADGM and DIFC are rising as competitive hubs, offering English-law frameworks, recognised regulatory regimes, and proximity to sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and regional institutions. For allocators especially those used to MiFID-influenced oversight a jurisdiction often serves as a shorthand for the regulatory environment, service provider ecosystem, and operational discipline surrounding a fund.
Ultimately, emerging managers must present narratives that are not only compelling but transparent, well structured, and compliant, meeting the expectations of a more sophisticated investor base that increasingly evaluates managers through a MiFID-calibrated lens.