Reserve Management

Evaluates the operational competence and track record of the institution or individuals managing productive assets. Applies only where reserves are actively managed or yield-generating.

Manager tenure serves as a second-order proxy for operational and governance maturity, combined with institutional track record, transparency of investment decisions, and conflict-of-interest structure.

Tier	Reasoning	Evidence
20+ years of institutional tenure	Multi-cycle-seasoned operations: established enterprise risk management, demonstrated survival through historical dislocations, and institutional memory that absorbs operational shocks without preventable failure.	Examples: BlackRock (founded 1988, $11T AUM), State Street (founded 1792, $4T AUM), Fidelity (founded 1946, $5T AUM) — managers running tokenized fund reserves through multiple complete cycles. FSB and BIS guidance reference long-tenured managers as the institutional standard for reserve-backed liabilities.
2 to 20 years of tenure	Past the highest-risk early period and has accumulated a meaningful operational track record, though has not demonstrated full-cycle strategic resilience or proven controls durability across all stress regimes.	Newer institutional managers with material AUM but limited cycle exposure. Meets minimum FSB expectations for stablecoin reserve managers.
Under 2 years of tenure	Insufficient time to demonstrate adversity management, controls durability, or conflict-of-interest discipline.	Recent issuer-affiliated manager arrangements have raised reserve-quality concerns. Stream Finance's $93M loss in November 2025 to an undisclosed external manager illustrates the operational fragility of short-tenured arrangements.