Andy Volz, Chief Commercial Officer at Clear Street, moderated a Global Alts New York 2026 panel on selecting emerging managers with Art Vinokur of Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions, Jamie Rhode of Screendoor, and George Lai of Valence8. The panel mapped how three allocators with different mandates — a large multi-asset manager, a VC fund-of-funds, and a family-office-backed boutique — approach the talent and track record question across public and private markets.

Selecting emerging managers is the highest-dispersion decision in alternative investing. Vinokur opened with the structural case. Smaller, younger managers operating in less efficient niches tend to slightly outperform over full cycles. The correlation between fund age and size on one hand and long-term performance on the other points in a consistent direction: earlier is better, smaller is better, niche is better. The catch is that the dispersion in outcomes is also wider. Selecting emerging managers is not a strategy for LPs who cannot distinguish between dispersion and loss.

How Screendoor approaches selecting emerging managers in venture

Rhode built the Screendoor thesis directly on fund-one data. The firm was started by ten established VCs who wanted to create the LP they wished they had when launching their own first funds. The insight that drove the business: in a portfolio of twenty-plus emerging fund managers that a prior family office ran, roughly half of the unicorns came from fund-one managers. “There is something special about fund ones,” Rhode said. “A unique insight, a temporary opportunity. It may get arbitraged over time, but it’s real.”

The diligence process at Screendoor goes beyond the investment thesis. The bigger question is whether the manager can run a business. “Brand-name firms provide the full back office. These people have never had to deal with LPs. They’ve never dealt with K1 reporting.” Operational readiness is half the diligence.

How George Lai underwrites emerging managers at Valence8

Lai brought the boutique investment office lens. Valence8 is backed by global family offices and concentrates on niche specialists, emerging managers, and co-investments across public and private markets. The firm underwrites on alpha potential in inefficient corners of the market and on the alignment that comes from being early in the manager’s life cycle. The co-invest layer matters because it lets Valence8 size up the highest-conviction names without paying full fund-level fees.

Vinokur added the consultant lens for Franklin Templeton. Manager selection is the single most important decision in private markets allocation, and the emerging manager segment has the widest dispersion. The right approach builds a portfolio of emerging managers rather than a single bet, screens for deep domain expertise over generalist pedigree, and maintains relationship continuity through multiple fund cycles.

What allocators should do with selecting emerging managers

The panel converged on a practical playbook. LPs should size emerging manager allocations as a dedicated sleeve with its own risk budget rather than as opportunistic add-ons. The diligence framework should emphasize underwriting philosophy and operational infrastructure over the pedigree of prior employers. Co-invest rights and early-fund economics deliver real benefit when paired with the right manager. Diversification across emerging managers, sub-strategies, and vintages mitigates the single-name risk that has historically scared LPs away from the category. Allocators mapping emerging managers across venture, private equity, hedge funds, and private credit can use Allocator Intelligence on iConnections and Get Verified introductions through Pipelines.