Company types
Investment Consultant
Investment Consultants advise institutional allocators on policy portfolios, manager selection, and monitoring. They influence allocations through frameworks, approved lists, and diligence standards, making process quality and transparency critical.
Consultants support allocators by structuring decision-making: policy design, manager search, diligence, and monitoring. For GPs, consultants can shape access; for LPs, they shape governance quality.
How allocators define consultant value
They look for:
- Strong manager evaluation frameworks
- Independence and transparency around incentives
- Clear monitoring and performance attribution
- Practical portfolio construction guidance (liquidity and pacing)
- Consistent diligence documentation
What slows allocator decision-making
Blockers include:
- Opaque incentives or conflicts
- Over-standardized screens that miss strategy nuance
- Weak follow-through on monitoring and risk flags
- Slow search process without clear decision milestones
Key allocator questions
- How are managers screened and what gets excluded early?
- How are conflicts managed and disclosed?
- What monitoring signals trigger action?
- How does the consultant incorporate liquidity and pacing reality?
Key Takeaways
- Consultants are governance multipliers when transparent and rigorous
- Independence, monitoring discipline, and process clarity define trust
- Influence is real—so incentives must be explicit