This can be a valid reason, depending on the manager-review campaign mechanism being used. In a search-based certification campaign where Manager is selected as the reviewer, Identity Security Cloud determines the reviewer from each identity's manager relationship. If an identity does not have a manager defined, SailPoint documents that the certification is reassigned to the creator of the campaign . If the campaign creator is an administrator, the certification therefore appears assigned to that administrator instead of a manager.

The absence of a manager can originate from authoritative HR data, an incomplete manager attribute mapping, failed manager correlation, or otherwise missing manager information on the identity.

A distinction is important: traditional Manager Campaigns require identities to have managers defined and identities without managers are normally excluded. SailPoint recommends using a Search-based campaign with Manager selected as reviewer when identities without managers must still be included.

Given the scenario explicitly states that the certification was reassigned to an admin, missing manager information is therefore a technically valid explanation for the observed fallback assignment.

Study Guide Reference: Supporting Governance — Certifications, Manager Review, Search-Based Campaigns and Identities Without Managers.

===============