ALTSeek Ratings · Evaluate

Independent intelligence, applied the same way every time.

A transparent framework that turns institutional due diligence into clear, comparable signals of quality, risk, and resilience, before you commit time, capital, or your firm's judgment.

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An ALTSeek Ratings card showing a Tier 4 rating on a five-tier dial, with supporting scores APS 82.4, CDS plus 47.2, and FMRP 3.45, alongside a positive outlook and high confidence
The problem Ratings solve

Every alternative arrives dressed in its own language.

Sponsor materials are built to persuade. Structures differ. Track records are framed to flatter. And the real evaluation, the part that actually protects clients, too often lives in one person's head instead of in a record the firm can stand behind.

ALTSeek Ratings replace that inconsistency with a single, disciplined lens applied to every program you consider. Same factors. Same rigor. Every time.

What an ALTSeek Rating is

Institutional diligence, distilled to something you can read in seconds and defend in depth.

Each rating is built from three independent scores and resolves to a defined tier. The scores are transparent, so you can see the components, not just a verdict.

A rating describes an investment's assessed profile. It is not a recommendation, an endorsement, or an instruction to act. The judgment stays where it belongs, with the advisor.

The methodology

Three lenses. Three questions.

Most rating systems collapse everything into one number. We don't. A blended score hides information; three independent lenses preserve it. Each answers a question the others can't.

APSAnalytical Profile Score0-100%
How strong is the overall profile?

A percentage-based measure of an investment's analytical strength across the factors that most influence quality and risk. APS is the primary driver of an investment's tier.

CDSComprehensive Diligence Score-100 to +200
What did the diligence actually find?

Reflects the depth and outcome of the underlying review. Unlike a simple grade, CDS can move into negative territory when diligence surfaces material concerns, so strengths and red flags are both visible, not averaged away.

FMRPFailure Mode Resilience Profile0.0-4.0
How does it hold up if things break?

A resilience lens that asks a different question entirely: not how strong an investment looks today, but how it is likely to withstand stress. FMRP maps the ways an investment can fail and assesses its resistance to each.

These three scores are never averaged into one figure. They are meant to be read side by side. A strong analytical profile with a fragile resilience profile tells you something a single blended score would erase.

The tier system

A clear, ordered scale, so any program can be placed at a glance.

APS is the primary driver of tier placement, informed by the fuller picture the other lenses provide. Tier names describe an investment's assessed profile, not a firm's obligation to buy, sell, hold, or recommend.

Tier 5Comprehensive · Broad analytical strength with few limiting considerations.
Tier 4Strong · Well-substantiated across most evaluation factors.
Tier 3Sound · Solid overall, with a moderate set of considerations to weigh.
Tier 2Conditional · A valid profile that carries meaningful conditions or constraints.
Tier 1Specialized · Purpose-built or structurally limited by design; serves specific mandates and situations.

A lower tier is not a lesser investment. It reflects a more specialized or condition-bound profile. Many valid programs, including certain DSTs and other purpose-built structures, sit at the lower tiers by design, and the framework is built to describe that neutrally rather than penalize it.

Why advisors and firms use them

Signals you can compare, explain, and defend.

Consistency you can compareThe same lens on every program means an apples-to-apples view across strategies, structures, and sponsors.
Transparency, not a black boxEvery rating exposes its components. You can see why a program landed where it did, and explain it to a client, a committee, or an examiner.
IndependenceBuilt from Buttonwood's independent research, not sponsor marketing. The perspective is yours, not the seller's.
Depth at a glanceInstitutional methodology, distilled to a signal you can read in seconds and drill into when you need to.
A defensible recordEvery rating becomes a documented, repeatable part of your process, the kind of evidence that supports your diligence obligations and stands up in a compliance or E&O context.
Your judgment, preservedRatings inform decisions. They don't make them. The framework strengthens your process without displacing the advisor at the center of it.
Where Ratings fit

The Evaluate stage of one connected program.

Ratings sit between sourcing an opportunity in ALTSeek Search and committing to full independent review in Due Diligence, the fast, consistent read that tells you where to look harder and what deserves to move forward.

SourceEvaluateImplementOversee
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See quality, risk, and resilience, before you go deeper.

ALTSeek Ratings give advisors an independent, transparent, and defensible way to evaluate alternatives at the pace real decisions demand.

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The technology is new. The intelligence behind it is not: 22+ years of independent alternatives research from Buttonwood Due Diligence.