Institutional Investors

Institutional Investor Sample Projects: Overall Objective: Enhance Effectiveness and Efficiency of Institutional Investor Investment Processes and Investment Business Management Processes:

Based on 29 Years of Experience Supporting Institutional Investors:

• Internally Oriented Institutional Investor Advisory/Assessment Projects:
  • Investment-related Capabilities & Gaps,
  • Investment Staffing Model: Internal and Outsourced Roles
  • Investors Investment Processes and Decision-making
  • Current + Target Investment Portfolio Asset/Liability Matching Process and Capabilities
  • Overall Asset Allocation Policy and Results
  • Consideration of New/Increased/Decreased Allocations to “Alternative Investments”
  • Asset Allocation Among Alternative Investment Options

• • Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis, e.g., Hedge Fund Strategy Selections
  • Overall Investment Committee/Decision-Making Process in Light of “Best Practices”
  • Investment Related Reporting to Governance Board and Advisory Committees
  • Investment Training and Development Programs for Staff and Board
    • Current Assessment
    • Determine Programs To Meet Needs
  • Investment Team Succession Planning
  • Investor “Lessons Learned”/Actions Taken Since Financial Crisis and Recent Fund Frauds and Failures

• Manager Oriented Projects (For Long-Only and/or Alternative Managers)
  • 5 Part Comprehensive Manager Selection Program/Process:
    • Investment Strategy, Investment Process, Investment Team, Investment Committee Assessments
    • Fund/Account Vehicle: Constitutional Documents, Governance, Terms & Financial Crisis Lessons Learned
    • Management Firm:
      • Type, Registration Status, Constitutional Documents, Ownership Structure, Equity Sharing
      • Governance (Board and Management Committee)
      • Alignment with Best Practices
    • Investment Process and Investment Business Management Processes/Best Practices/Workflow Analysis
    • Other Standard “Operational Due Diligence (“Ops DD”) Assessments
  • Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis and Screens to Create  Initial and Pool  and Final Selection of Managers
  • Further Analysis and Criteria for Final Manager Selection and On-going Monitoring
  • Probe for Evidence of “Lessons Learned”  by Managers from Financial Crisis, Recent Fund Frauds and Failures
    • Focus on things that went poorly for the firm (lack of liquidity, valuation issues, lack of transparency, poor understanding of portfolio true risks factors, overconcentration of holdings, lack of real diversification, high correlations across firm portfolios, with competitors and with beta indices, etc.
    • Press for info on what has been done since crisis to fix these issues, the more quantitative the info shared the better; the more candid the manager is the better
    • Test candor/openness and transparency of manager and willingness to share such info

• • Assessing Manager Capabilities:
    • Investment Strategy & Investment Management
    • Investment Business Strategy & Management
    • People Leadership and Management
    • Training and Development Programs
    • Succession Planning
  • Assessing Manager “Due Diligence Questionnaires”
    • Scope and Quality of Coverage of Key Issues
    • Identification of Gaps
    • Focus on “What Really Matters”
    • Test Claims of Transparency
    • Test Claims of “Culture of Compliance”
  • Conducting Effective Interviews:
    • Investment Professionals
    • Investment Business Functions Heads
    • Actual Investment and Business Function “Doers”
    • Third party Service Providers
    • Importance of “Triangulation”