A 2026 New Year’s Checklist for Investment Management Firms

As investment managers head into 2026, the operational, regulatory, and counterparty landscape continues to grow more complex. Building on the foundation we outlined in our 2025 New Year’s Checklist (Quad Blog: Investment Management Firms’ Ultimate New Year Checklist), the start of the year is an ideal time to reassess key relationships, contractual obligations, and internal processes to ensure your firm is positioned for stability, scalability, and compliance.

Below is an updated checklist of critical areas firms should revisit as part of their annual planning.

1. Counterparty Relationships

Counterparty agreements underpin core trading, financing, and operational activities. As market conditions, balance sheet constraints, and client activity evolve, so should your approach to managing these relationships.

Key items to review include:

• Fee Schedules and Economics
  Confirm that fees, margin rates, and other economics remain accurate and aligned with your negotiated terms. Rising financing costs and shifting dealer risk appetites make periodic validation increasingly important.

• Committed and Term Financing Arrangements
  Reassess whether existing term commitments still provide adequate protection against volatility, liquidity tightening, or changes in counterparty capacity, and confirm that the total committed amount remains sufficient given current balances, growth, and financing needs. For firms that have grown or adjusted strategies, this may be an opportunity to renegotiate or expand commitments.
  Read more about the role of term commitments and treasury systems here: Quad Blog: Navigating the Complex World of Term Commitments: Why Treasury Systems Are Essential

• Points of Contact (POCs)
  Ensure primary and secondary contacts are current across sales, trading, operations, credit, and legal teams. Clear communication channels remain critical for issue resolution, negotiations, and ongoing relationship management. 

• Rights, Obligations, and Deliverables
  Maintain a clear, consolidated view of each party’s rights and responsibilities — including reporting, margin, and compliance obligations. With year-end deliverables often coming due early in the year, this is a critical time to ensure all required submissions are identified and tracked to avoid inadvertent breaches or reputational risk.

• Key Dates and Deadlines
  Track renewal windows, notice periods, and reporting deadlines tied to counterparty agreements. Missed deadlines can reduce negotiating leverage, result in unfavorable auto-renewals, or, in certain agreements, trigger an ATE (additional termination event).

• Contract Term Upgrades
  If your firm’s AUM, trading volumes, or strategy mix has evolved, review whether your agreements still reflect your current profile. Growth or changes in strategy may also indicate the need for additional documentation or amendments, in addition to opportunities to improve economic, operational or legal terms.
  Read more about upgrading counterparty contract terms here: Quad Blog: Trade & Financing: Is it Time to Ask for an Upgrade to My Contract Terms?

  
  

2. Vendor Management

Vendor relationships — from OMS/PMS providers to data, research, technology, compliance, cyber, and other service partners — play a growing role in operational resilience and regulatory compliance.

As part of your 2026 review, consider:

• Contract Renewal and Termination Dates
  Maintain a centralized calendar of renewal and notice periods to avoid surprise renewals, service gaps, or missed renegotiation opportunities. 

• Fee Structures and Increases
  Validate vendor pricing, escalation clauses, and billing practices. With costs continuing to rise, firms should ensure fees align with usage and contractual entitlements. 

• Vendor POCs
  Confirm updated contacts for relationship management, support, and escalation purposes.

• Rights, Obligations, and SLAs
  Review service-level commitments, data rights, audit rights, and reporting obligations. Clear documentation supports accountability and dispute resolution.

• Operational and Compliance Deadlines
  Track deliverables, reporting requirements, and review periods tied to vendor contracts to avoid penalties or service disruptions.

• Vendor Risk and Concentration Review
  Assess vendor concentration risk, financial stability, and substitution options — particularly for mission-critical systems. This review is increasingly relevant in regulatory examinations and operational risk assessments.
  Read more about the importance of contract lifecycle management here: Quad Blog: Managing Vendors: The Case for a Centralized Contract Management System

  
  

3. Investor Documentation

Investor-facing obligations continue to expand in scope and complexity — particularly across side letters, limited partnership agreements (LPAs), and investment management agreements (IMAs). These agreements often impose bespoke reporting, fee, and compliance requirements that must be actively managed.

As part of your 2026 review, firms should:

• Inventory All Investor Commitments
  Confirm that all obligations across side letters, LPAs, IMAs, and credit-related agreements are identified, documented, and actively tracked.

• Validate Compliance and Alignment
  Ensure obligations to investors under side letters, LPAs, and IMAs remain consistent with offering documents, disclosures, internal policies, and evolving regulatory expectations.

• Centralize Deadline and Deliverable Tracking
  Use a single system to monitor reporting, notice, consent, and delivery requirements, including customized reporting schedules and approval rights.

• Review Legacy Agreements
  As funds mature and new products or SMAs are launched, revisit older side letters, LPAs, and IMAs to confirm obligations remain operationally manageable and supported by current workflows.
  Read more about managing side letters, LPAs, and credit facilities here: Quad Blog: Navigating Increased Regulatory Scrutiny: Why Proper Management of Side Letters, LPAs, Credit Facilities, and Vendor Agreements is Critical for Private Equity Firms

  
  

4. NDAs and Confidentiality Agreements

Non-disclosure agreements are frequently executed across investor discussions, vendor evaluations, transactions, and strategic initiatives — yet they are often stored inconsistently and revisited only when issues arise.

To mitigate risk in 2026, firms should:

• Centralize Executed NDAs
  Maintain a complete inventory of all NDAs, including those executed for investor diligence, vendor evaluations, and transactional discussions.

• Review Confidentiality Scope and Carve-Outs
  Understand permitted disclosures, regulatory exceptions, and information-sharing limitations that may affect future communications.

• Track Survival and Expiration Periods
  Monitor how long confidentiality obligations remain in effect, particularly where terms survive beyond the end of a transaction or relationship.

• Confirm Authorized Disclosers and Recipients
  Ensure clarity around who is permitted to share confidential information internally and externally.

• Evaluate Template Consistency and Risk Posture
  Periodically assess whether NDA templates and negotiated terms remain aligned with current data protection practices, regulatory expectations, and risk tolerance.

  
  

5. Transactions and Loans

Transactions and loans — including mergers and acquisitions, securities purchases, asset-backed loans, NAV loans, hybrids, real estate loans, warehouse facilities, private credit arrangements, and other structured investments — often introduce ongoing covenants and reporting requirements that extend well beyond deal close.

At the start of 2026, firms should review:

• Inventory of Transactional Agreements
  Identify all agreements governing investments and loans, including purchase agreements, credit agreements, other loan documents, and amendments.

• Covenants and Ongoing Obligations
  Compile and actively track financial, operational, and reporting covenants, along with any affirmative and negative obligations tied to each transaction.

• Monitoring Thresholds and Triggers
  Confirm visibility into ratios, limits, and conditions that could trigger notices, cures, or default provisions — particularly in volatile or rate-sensitive environments.

• Reporting and Certification Requirements
  Track delivery of financial statements, compliance certificates, borrowing base reports, and other recurring submissions required under transaction documents.

• Amendments, Waivers, and Consents
  Maintain a clear record of negotiated waivers, amendments, and consent rights to ensure ongoing compliance reflects the current state of the agreement.

• Post-Close Oversight and Ownership
  Confirm internal ownership for covenant monitoring and compliance across investment, legal, finance, accounting, and operations teams.

  
  

6. Regulatory and Examination Readiness

Regulatory scrutiny shows no signs of easing in 2026. Firms should continue to prioritize proactive compliance planning.

Key steps include:

• Monitoring Regulatory Developments
  Stay informed on guidance, enforcement trends, and rule changes from relevant regulators and industry bodies.

• Third-Party Regulatory Scoping
  Confirm which vendor and counterparty relationships are subject to specific regulatory requirements, and ensure contractual terms, oversight processes, and documentation align with those obligations.

• Internal Training and Accountability
  Ensure teams understand new requirements and how contractual obligations intersect with regulatory expectations.

• Policy and Procedure Reviews
  Update compliance manuals and internal procedures to reflect current operations and regulatory standards.

• Targeted Risk Assessments
  Identify areas where regulatory changes may impact contracts, disclosures, or operational processes.

• Mock Audits and Dry Runs
  Conduct periodic mock exams to test data accessibility, documentation readiness, and internal workflows — particularly around contracts and investor obligations.

Read more about Uncleared Margin Rules here: Quad Blog: Navigating UMR: What You Need to Know as the Deadline is Fast Approaching

Read more about Regulation S-P Amendments here: Quad Blog: Regulation S-P Amendments: What Financial Institutions and Their Service Providers Need to Know and Actions to Take

Using Technology to Stay Ahead in 2026

Managing counterparties, vendors, investors, transactions and loans, and regulatory obligations through manual processes — or standalone CLM and CRM tools — is increasingly unsustainable. As contractual complexity grows, firms need more than document storage and workflow reminder automation to stay ahead.

Quadrangle’s QDS platform is built on a differentiated formula that combines deep contractual data, subject matter expertise across both legal and business disciplines, and purpose-built technology. QDS has the tools you need to monitor all of these activities; click here to view an overview of our offering. Together, these elements transform contracts from static documents into actionable intelligence.

Through QDS, firms can centrally store and actively manage agreements while tracking:

• Renewal and termination dates

• Rights, obligations, and deliverables

• Reporting and compliance deadlines

• Centralized points of contact across counterparties and vendors

Unlike traditional CLM or CRM systems, QDS pairs technology with experienced legal and industry professionals who understand how agreements operate in practice — from financing and trading relationships to investor and vendor oversight. This combination unlocks greater value, supports informed decision-making, and enables firms to proactively manage risk throughout the lifecycle of their relationships.