Client: Asset Owner

RFP Blues: Hitting the High Notes

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC

Have you ever been to JazzFest in New Orleans? If not, I highly recommend it: ten or more stages – zydeco, jazz, blues, rock, country, gospel, African, krewes, big names, local names – all playing at the same time. The problem is:  standing in the middle, program in hand, faint music coming from all directions, people celebrating – what’s your choice going to be?

Each listener has a different strategy, but I’ll tell you what absolutely no one does:  send out multi-page questionnaires in advance to each and every band asking them about their style, instrumentation, influences, playlist, recording history, etc. Nobody RFP’s JazzFest.

by Mark R. David, CFA…

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How Investment Management Firms Benefit from Engaging the Right Consultant

During an era when critical skills are in short-supply and valuable IT and business personnel spend most of their working hours in meetings, consultants can make the meaningful difference between a project’s success or failure. The right consultant brings diverse skills, broad perspectives and an understanding of both business and technology. In addition, consultants are best positioned to contribute in a way seldom possible by others since they can apply focus and attention to the task at hand – something that is difficult for full time employees to do when they are juggling competing demands and BAU tasks. This article:
• delves into business problems prevalent in many investment management firms, especially in vendor product evaluations and implementations;
• deals with how an outside consultant can play a significant, contributory role; and
• leverages a practical use case to demonstrate key benefits and tangible results delivered by a Meradia consultant who moved an almost failing project to a successful outcome.

by Jose R. Michaelraj, CIPM, Senior Consultant

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Targeted Demos Benefit Both Buyers & Vendors in the Selection Process – Whether They Are Conducted In-Person or Remotely

Typical vendor selection methodologies include consecutive steps made by the buying firm. Their first step is to consider an ‘anything is possible’ list of vendors before culling it to a short list of qualified vendors, followed by a robust and time-consuming RFP process. A few vendors will make it to the final steps which involve product demonstrations, or ‘demos.’ Even after all this effort and detailed qualitative analysis, a firm may have a difficulty selecting a single vendor and/or feel less-than-confident that their choice is unbiased and free of incorrect assumptions. By including live or remotely conducted targeted demos as the final step, firms are better able to evaluate vendors objectively.

by Christine (Tina) M. Madel, CFA, Principal

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Multi-Asset Class Investing

Multi-Asset Class Investing: Part 3 – Knitting Together an Attribution

Meradia has observed a strong uptick in activity around Multi-Asset Class (MAC) investment products and strategies. We see managers across the globe expanding current MAC offerings and introducing new ones; consequently, generating demand for new support around analytic methodologies, data, and technology.

This series explores our view of the multi-asset class phenomenon in depth, from origins to solutions. In our first installment, we looked at market and industry trends that seem to be driving the evolution of MAC toward more sophisticated strategies. In the second, we examined characteristics and methods of MAC managers that raise the bar, relative to traditional investment processes. In our final entry, we’ll examine some real-world solutions to the puzzle presented by attribution in a MAC framework. Given the inherent – indeed, intentional – disparity among the factors driving risk and return of these classes, how do we design and present an attribution methodology that accurately and meaningfully illustrates the manager’s MAC process?

by Mark R. David, CFA, Director of Performance, Risk & Analytics

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Multi-Asset Class Investing

Multi-Asset Class Investing: Part 2 – Meeting the Process Challenge

Meradia has observed a strong uptick in activity around Multi-Asset Class (MAC) investment products and strategies. We see managers across the globe expanding current MAC offerings and introducing new ones; consequently, generating demand for new support around analytic methodologies, data, and technology.

This series explores our view of the MAC phenomenon in depth, from origins to solutions. In our first of three installments, we looked at market and industry trends that seem to be driving the evolution of MAC toward more sophisticated strategies and methods. In this second installment, we examine the MAC investment process itself: What are the methods and practices that successful MAC managers employ, and how do these distinguish MAC from more traditional approaches?

by Mark R. David, CFA, Director of Performance, Risk & Analytics

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Multi-Asset Class Investing

Multi-Asset Class Investing: Part 1 – Forces Behind a Trend

Meradia has observed a strong uptick in activity around Multi-Asset Class (MAC) investment products and strategies. We see managers across the globe expanding current MAC offerings and introducing new ones; consequently, generating demand for new support around analytic methodologies, data, and technology.

This series explores our view of the MAC phenomenon in depth, from origins to solutions. In this first of three installments, we look at market and industry trends that seem to be driving the evolution of MAC towards more sophisticated strategies and methods.

by Mark R. David, CFA, Director of Performance, Risk & Analytics

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