Accredited investors and family offices see no shortage of deals. The real differentiator is the discipline to match capital to the right portfolio context.
“The fastest way to earn confidence is to get to the point, have a conversation, run through the numbers, see if there’s alignment in what they’re looking for,” says Liam J. Jones, General Partner and Head of Capital Strategy at Loanify Capital. It’s a well-oiled approach that prioritizes relevance over persuasion, surfacing fit early in the dialogue.
If an investor is seeking higher-risk volatility and is prepared to take that gamble, Jones is clear about whether the strategy belongs in that portfolio. Pushing an allocation that does not complement an investor’s objectives, he argues, is the quickest route to reputational erosion.
“Trust compounds faster than persuasion,” says Jones. Investors must first know the person across the table, then decide whether they connect with them, and only then assess whether trust is warranted. From there, allocators apply a more operational filter.
“There are four elements to trust,” Jones explains. “Trusting the business, the strategy, the management, and the allocator.” Miss any one of those, and even a well-structured opportunity struggles to clear the bar.
The Fastest Red Flag: A Lack of Competence
Sophisticated capital requires mastery. Jones points to one red flag that can end a discussion before it starts: “A lack of competence,” especially when someone is “reading line for line off of a script rather than actually building a relationship.”
Most capital partners assume they are assessing not only the investment structure itself, but the operator responsible for running it. If basic questions produce hesitation, investors will assume that same uncertainty will surface when markets become more volatile.
“You may not be the fund manager,” he says, “but you need to know your product inside out.” In practice, that means being able to walk through underwriting architecture, diversification controls, cash-flow waterfalls, and stress-scenario modeling without hiding behind jargon. Investors are looking for proof that risk governance is embedded in process.
Communication That Starts With the Investor
“Do not focus on the close. Focus on the relationship,” says Jones, whose own meetings begin with what he calls “confirmation and agenda.” First, he confirms that both parties are in the right room to discuss the opportunity. Next, he sets the agenda. Then he gives a brief overview before turning the focus where family offices and institutional allocators want it: their portfolio.
Gathering critical insight from investors, like how their overall portfolio is performing, where they are overexposed, and what gaps exist in the current diversification, gains a firmer understanding of overall appetite, and only then does he move into specific fund mechanics. The sequence matters because it signals respect for time and avoids the assumption that every investor should want the same thing.
“I’ve had meetings end in five to ten minutes because it just wasn’t there, and others that run two hours and lead to multiple connections over months before deploying capital” says Jones. “The point isn’t to maximize call volume but surface fit and move forward only when both sides can articulate why this allocation belongs.”
What Makes a Fund “Investable” to Family Offices
Family offices often look for continuity over novelty. In Jones’ framework, investability rests on three pillars.
First is clarity. “Simplicity,” he says, is underappreciated. Managers sometimes add complexity to look differentiated, but complexity can blur the basic question family offices care about: what, exactly, is the strategy and where can it break?
Second is evidence. A “verifiable track record” does not need to be marketing gloss; it needs to be diligence-ready. Investors want to see how a manager has navigated risk and whether the team’s decision-making is repeatable.
Third is durability. Family offices are rarely optimizing for a one-off trade. Jones highlights the value of structuring a vehicle to “operate into perpetuity,” because sophisticated capital partners are building multi-year, multi-generation allocation plans.
Execution Credibility Matters More Than a Great Idea
Private credit is built on promises, such as a promised yield, a promised distribution rhythm, a promised set of underwriting controls. Without governance and execution, those promises turn into disappointment.
“People don’t invest in good ideas. They invest in good ideas run by people that know how to execute.” For managers without a household-name brand behind them, execution credibility is the asset.
That credibility shows up in how risk is explained before performance data exists. A manager must “articulate the pitch” so the risk profile is “very, very easy to understand,” while still offering context investors can verify. For example, building assumptions like a default rate into models and then explaining why the inputs are conservative and how outcomes behave under stress.
The result is a message that resonates with sophisticated allocators: capital preservation is an operating system.
Follow Liam J. Jones on LinkedIn for more insights.
