Tuesday, 13 October 2026 11:45 AM
Awards
Highly selective manager platform and investor-first approach set the firm apart
RICHMOND, VA / ACCESS Newswire / October 13, 2026 / Agecroft Partners, a global hedge fund consulting and third party marketing firm, has won the Hedgeweek 2026 Award for Hedge Fund Third Party Marketing Firm of the Year. Hedgeweek and/or HFM have now named Agecroft the industry's top third party marketing firm of the year 14 times.
"Agecroft has changed the model of hedge fund third party marketing," said Don Steinbrugge, CFA, Founder and CEO of Agecroft Partners. "Most third party marketing models are based on leveraging personal relationships and doing extensive entertaining. Ours was founded on providing as much value as possible to investors while building a global brand with a reputation as an industry thought leader, strong institutional investment knowledge and representing high quality managers."
The industry reputation and brand of a third party marketing firm have a direct impact on an investor's perception of the alternative investment firms that they represent. Agecroft's objective is for its reputation to give its clients more credibility and better access to senior decision-makers at institutional investors.
Billions raised from the world's largest investors
Agecroft has helped its clients raise billions of dollars, securing allocations from many of the world's largest pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth, and institutional consulting firms. Most new allocations range from $1 million to $20 million and come from family offices, private banks, OCIOs, investment advisors, and other sophisticated investors. However, roughly 80% of total capital raised comes from large institutional investors and consultants allocating $50 million or more. This reflects the significant impact of large institutional relationships. Although smaller allocations account for the majority of individual commitments, institutional allocations, which can reach hundreds of millions of dollars, account for the vast majority of capital raised due to their size. One change that Agecroft has seen in the industry over time is the willingness of large institutional investors to allocate hundreds of millions to small and mid-sized managers.
Highly selective manager representation
Agecroft applies a rigorous, institutional-quality due diligence process to identify a small group of exceptional managers across hedge funds, private credit, and private equity. In 2025, more than 750 alternative investment firms expressed interest in having Agecroft represent them in their capital-raising efforts. Following its extensive evaluation process, Agecroft selected just two firms to join its platform. This highly selective approach reflects its commitment to representing only those managers it believes offer compelling investment strategies, strong competitive advantages, and the potential to deliver long-term value to institutional investors.
Agecroft evaluates managers based on multiple criteria including quality of the organization and investment team, the market inefficiency the strategy targets and the manager's competitive advantage in capturing it, risk controls, performance, and the quality of service providers. Strong performance is a prerequisite, but once a manager clears that bar, every other factor is important.
"Ninety-five percent of hedge funds can be eliminated quickly. It's the remaining five percent that require extensive due diligence," said Steinbrugge. "Ultimately, a third party marketing firm's reputation rests on the quality of the managers it represents."
A three-part approach to raising assets
Once Agecroft adds a manager to its platform, it focuses on three areas: quality of investment offering, marketing message, and distribution strategy.
"First, we make sure the strategy is strong across every factor investors use to select a manager, recommending enhancements where needed," said Steinbrugge. "Second, we make sure the marketing message clearly articulates the firm's competitive advantage on each of those factors, concisely and consistently, so that investors' perception of the fund matches reality. Third, we reach out to a broad range of investors that would be interested in the strategy, set up qualified meetings and put the right follow-up strategy in place for each prospect." "Raising assets from institutional investors is not transactional and cannot be rushed," he added. "It typically involves lengthy due diligence and multiple meetings. And asset raising isn't linear; it's exponential. As a manager's brand grows in the marketplace, its asset raising tends to accelerate."
An experienced, globally connected team
Agecroft's 10-person team is led by senior professionals who average more than 25 years of industry experience and have each been with the firm for over a decade. All of its Managing Directors previously worked at multi-billion-dollar alternative investment firms. Over their careers, they have met with a large share of the world's biggest pension funds, family offices, OCIOs, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, private banks, and consulting firms, many of which have been their clients.
Since its founding 19 years ago, Agecroft has leveraged its senior team's extensive networks to build one of the industry's largest proprietary allocator databases, with tens of thousands of contacts, and stays in active communication with thousands of investors worldwide each month.
Industry thought leadership
Agecroft regularly publishes white papers on investment and industry trends, informed by its ongoing dialogue with thousands of investors and managers. Its work has been published or cited in industry articles more than 1,500 times, and the firm has made more than 100 appearances on business television and radio, including as a regular guest on Bloomberg and CNBC. Its Hedge Fund Industry Insights Newsletter, launched in 2021, has more than 41,000 subscribers.
Gaining the Edge and charitable giving
Agecroft also helped create the Gaining the Edge cap intro events, conferences and webinar series, which has drawn more than 10,000 registered industry professionals. A portion of event profits is donated to nonprofit organizations, primarily those serving at-risk children, with contributions exceeding $3 million to date. The next Gaining the Edge Global Virtual Cap Intro kicks off in October 2026 with eight regional cocktail receptions, leading up to the main event May 17-28, 2027 (gteconferences.com).
About Agecroft Partners
Founded in 2007, Agecroft Partners is a global hedge fund consulting and third party marketing firm. Founder and CEO Donald A. Steinbrugge, CFA, was previously a Founding Principal of Andor Capital Management, which grew to become the second-largest hedge fund firm; Head of Institutional Sales for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (now part of BlackRock); and Head of Institutional Sales and a member of the executive committee at NationsBank Investment Management (now Bank of America).
Agecroft Partners is a licensed broker-dealer registered with the SEC, a member of FINRA, SIPC, and the NFA, and is an MSRB-registered Municipal Advisor.
Contact information:
Chas Steinbrugge
[email protected]
www.agecroftpartners.com
SOURCE: Gaining the Edge