Definition
An independent valuation agent values the positions itself, or provides independent support for the manager’s values, from outside the investment decision. That separation distinguishes it from the other parties around a mark. A fund administrator records and reports values, and may strike a NAV, but typically takes the prices it is given rather than forming an independent view of them. An auditor tests whether the reported marks are reasonable after the fact, on a sampling basis, but does not produce them. An internal valuation team sits inside the manager and, however capable, shares its incentives. The agent’s value is that its judgement is not the manager’s: under IFRS 13 and ASC 820 the significant inputs to a private credit mark are unobservable, and an independently produced or independently corroborated estimate carries more weight with auditors, LPs and risk committees than a self-assessed one.
Why it matters in private credit valuation
- Independence is what gives a mark credibility where the inputs are judgement: a valuation formed outside the manager’s incentives is harder to dispute than a self-assessed one.
- The agent is not an administrator, an auditor or an internal team — it produces or corroborates the value itself, which is the distinction that strengthens the mark rather than merely recording or testing it.
Related
Glossary terms
On markst
Independent valuation, on your own positions
markst values private credit independently on a published, reproducible methodology — marks an auditor and an LP can read straight through. Request access or book a demo. You can also read the valuation methodology or see Verus, the valuation engine.