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Due Diligence University will deploy multiple channels to present due diligence educational material, including webinars and white papers, with content scheduled to expand significantly over the balance of the year. Webinars available for replay include discussions around the failures of FTX and Silicon Valley Bank, and a recent session on insights from the 2022 audited financial statement season to date.

The flagship component of DDU is Castle Hall's series of Due Diligence Primers, which provide an easy-to-understand but comprehensive overview of various due diligence issues. The first primer, on the review of fund audited financial statements, is available now; primers on due diligence best practices for private equity funds and for review of Form ADV regulatory filings will be released shortly.

"Operational due diligence has evolved from its beginnings as a specialised niche to become an institutional quality process integrated into investors' risk management infrastructure," said Chris Addy, Castle Hall's CEO. "As more professionals are tasked with ODD as their organisations enhance oversight over third-party asset managers, there is a strong demand for educational resources which consider best practices and equally discuss due diligence pitfalls. Castle Hall conducts due diligence on more than 2,000 fund managers / GPs every year, and we are delighted to share our experience and perspective across the industry to help investors and managers."

Information on the review of audited financial statements is particularly timely as investors have now received most accounts related to investment funds with Dec. 31, 2022, year ends. A detailed review is critical to ensure that investors are aware of material issues such as qualified audit opinions, an unexpected increase in Level 3, hard-to-value assets, or an increasing expense ratio. The accounts can also contain important disclosures around related parties, contingent liabilities and subsequent events.

"Our due diligence primers seek to strike a balance between accessibility and detail," continued Addy. "Taking the audited accounts, for example, investors face many risks. These include accounts which do not adequately disclose detail around fund expenses or where offshore auditors deliberately do not address their audit opinion to the investors who actually own the fund. Knowing where to look can significantly improve the effectiveness of the diligence process."