# Part V. Path Forward for Fund Managers

> Part of the *Music ABS and Institutional Readiness* knowledge base. See `INDEX.md` for the full map. The checklist below is the operational distillation of `03-drivers/` — start with `03 - The Five Drivers (overview).md` if you want the framing first.

The path from catalog acquisition to recurring institutional execution is well-mapped by the platforms that have completed it. The checklist below organizes the operational, financial, legal, data, and governance prerequisites identified throughout this paper into concrete steps a platform can work through ahead of a rated debut.

Two templates frame the work for managers at different stages:

- **Concord** (anchored and structured by Apollo and its origination platforms) acts as one reference point for platforms building toward a standalone inaugural issuance under a master trust.
- **Chord Music Partners** is the reference for managers exploring joint-venture or co-investment structures with existing catalog owners.

Both clear at the tightest spread end of the rated record, and both make a sophisticated structuring partner a supportive and beneficial input.

## Financial Readiness

- [ ] Draft acquisition documentation with downstream ABS eligibility in mind from the first transaction.
- [ ] Diversify catalog vintages, genres, rights types, and contributing creators at the acquisition stage.
- [ ] Build a two-to-three-year bilateral private credit track record with monthly royalty reporting.
- [ ] Model the debut deal-economics around approximately $250 million in rated notes supported by $400 million-plus in appraised catalog value.
- [ ] Reserve locked sponsor equity equal to approximately 5% of issuance for risk retention.

→ Full discussion: `03a - Financial Readiness.md`

## Operational Maturity

- [ ] Build internal systems capable of producing monthly trustee-quality servicer reports.
- [ ] Phase acquisitions to bring the largest assets into the portfolio early in the three-year seasoning window.
- [ ] Engage a backup-servicer arrangement well before approaching the rated market.
- [ ] Test data transferability under the backup-servicer arrangement ahead of any rating-agency review.

→ Full discussion: `03b - Operational Maturity.md`

## Legal Architecture

- [ ] Engage specialty counsel covering structured finance, IP, and bankruptcy law two to three years before a debut transaction.
- [ ] Audit acquisition documentation systematically for true-sale defects, including reversion clauses, consent-to-assignment provisions, and audit-triggered clawbacks.
- [ ] Map the sub-publishing chain across major territories.
- [ ] Plan UCC and Copyright Office filings as parallel operational workstreams.

→ Full discussion: `03c - Legal Architecture.md`

## Data Infrastructure

- [ ] Maintain song-level identifier and registration discipline: unique catalog identifiers, ISRC and ISWC codes, IPI/CAE identifiers, territory sub-publisher mappings, and current registrations across the MLC, SoundExchange, PROs, and HFA.
- [ ] Track capture rate against theoretical royalty entitlement as a key performance indicator alongside revenue growth.
- [ ] Build loan-tape output capability that produces surveillance-grade collateral data on demand.

→ Full discussion: `03d - Data Infrastructure.md`

## Governance

- [ ] Establish independent board oversight, formal investment committee structures, and a documented internal control environment.
- [ ] Extend the audit boundary to the catalog operating entity rather than stop at the fund level.
- [ ] Establish independent third-party valuation relationships from the first meaningful acquisition, with documented annual cadence and clear separation between financial advisors and valuers.
- [ ] Cultivate structuring agent and anchor investor relationships during the bilateral credit phase.
- [ ] Develop a clear investor story explaining the portfolio's stratification, growth profile, concentration risks, and differences from precedent transactions.

→ Full discussion: `03e - Governance.md`

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**See also:** `../prompts/abs-readiness-self-assessment.md` (an LLM-driven walkthrough of this checklist) · `04 - Outlook.md` (where the structural buildout positions the platform for the next iteration of the market).
