Pillar
The Architecture Score
The Architecture Score brings three dimensions into one firm-level view. Start there, then open the components to understand the choices and assumptions behind the number.
2 pages
- Why the Architecture Score puts weight on balanceHow the Architecture Score combines three dimensions, why a weaker component matters, and why the component readings belong beside the headline number.
- What LPs are already evaluating that a track record cannot answerHow fund design complements track-record analysis in LP diligence, with practical examples and clear limits on what an Architecture Score can establish.
How to read it
The Architecture Score
The firm-level composite across efficiency, congruence, and concentration. A single 0 to 100 reading at the firm level.
It integrates the three engines into one number: Portfolio Efficiency and Firm Design Congruence, both aggregated across the firm, and Cross-Fund Concentration, which is already firm-level by construction. The two fund-level components are aggregated by deployed capital rather than by fund count, so a firm's largest deployed fund carries more of the reading than a small recent one. That is worth knowing before reading your own number, because it explains why a strong new fund moves the firm score less than expected.
80 to 100
Strongly architected. Configuration, design, and capital distribution all align.
65 to 80
Well-architected. Modest improvement opportunities across dimensions.
50 to 65
Adequately architected. One or more dimensions are below cohort median.
35 to 50
Structurally weak in one or more dimensions. Material attention needed.
Below 35
Significant architectural gaps. Foundational work indicated before the next fund.
The bands are model interpretation categories, not a rating or percentile. Current cohort references are provisional where labeled; a band mentioning a cohort median should not be read as a verified empirical comparison. Use the component readings and their limits to guide the review.
It is not a rating, not a grade, and not a stamp. The External Reference Guide is direct about this, and the distinction matters: a rating is an opinion about quality issued by an authority, while this is a composite of three structural readings a firm can trace back to its own declared configuration. It also does not override the engine scores. A firm whose Architecture Score and whose engine scores tell different stories should trust the engines, because that is where the detail is.
The score requires all three components. A firm with a fund whose configuration is incomplete enough that its scores cannot be computed sees the Architecture Score reported as unavailable rather than estimated from what is present, with the components that did compute still shown. These pages are reference material for a reader already looking at a score rather than an introduction for someone who is not.