North Pier was engaged to assist the trustees of a nationally recognized charity considering a transition from traditional advisor-assisted, trustee-directed investment management to a discretionary OCIO manager. The long-time committee chair, who acted as CIO, rotated off the committee. The remaining all- volunteer committee members wanted to enhance the outsourced services to make up for the expertise and time commitment that was lost with the departure. While fund raising is strong, this mission driven organization depends heavily on investment returns and requires both strong and consistent returns to fund critical programming.
- North Pier educated the committee on the
state of the industry and the solutions available
for OCIO discretionary management
- North Pier was able to help the committee
envision a new approach with an outsourced CIO
- North pier reviewed governance documents
including the Committee Charter, Investment
Policy Statement and minutes of committee
meetings
- Amendments and refinements to the
documents and fiduciary process were
recommended
- North Pier also performed a historical review
and deep analysis of investment track records
- North Pier initially reviewed records and
screened (17) potential candidates from which
ten (10) were selected for interviews and initial
track record analysis. Eight (8) of these
organizations passed the quantitative and
qualitative screens and were selected to receive
the full RFP
- We developed and administered an RFP and
performed detailed due diligence on eight (8)
candidates, including reviewing performance
track records and performing in-depth
investment analysis
-- North Pier assisted the committee in selecting
three (3) finalists who were invited to participate
in in-person interviews at the client’s
headquarters
- North Pier developed a structure for the
presentations, prepared the finalists and
facilitated the interviews
Additional due diligence on the leading finalists revealed erroneous or misleading statements with regards to fees and OCIO revenue. This organization was eliminated, and the remaining organizations were re-interviewed by the committee.
The Trustees selected an OCIO whose process,
style, track record and investment approach
best matched desired characteristics. This
organization’s incremental approach to
generating alpha was a good solution to the
challenge of pursuing growth while maintaining
stability.
On behalf of the client, North Pier negotiated
favorable fees and a new service agreement.
After negotiating a significant decrease in fees,
the charity expects an estimated 18 bps
reduction in total fees allowing a meaningful
impact on persons benefiting from the program.