Richard Wilson: asking who chooses the assets for a site visit
Richard's list of possible diligence questions included visiting multiple assets and asking to choose them randomly.
The selection affects what the visit shows
A visit supplies direct observations, but somebody still chooses the location. Richard raised random selection as a way to avoid seeing only assets chosen for the presentation. He placed the question among possible areas of inquiry in his diligence tools module.
More than an invitation to tour
The detail in his example is who controls the sample. Visiting several locations and choosing which ones to see changes the evidence available to the visitor. Richard included the question in a longer list of possible inquiries.
In Richard C. Wilson's words
"can I go to a site visit at multiple assets and can I choose them randomly" (Richard C. Wilson, Due Diligence mini-series)
How to use this
- Record who selected the locations included in a proposed tour.
- Compare the selected locations with the wider asset list.
Questions and answers
What did Richard ask about the visit?
Whether he could see multiple assets and choose them randomly.
Where did this question appear?
In his discussion of a brainstorming list of possible due diligence inquiries.