Independent institutional consultant selection

Investment Consultant Search and Selection

Alpha helps boards and investment committees define their needs, compare institutional investment consulting firms, conduct due diligence, and select the right advisory relationship.

110+OCIO and consultant searches
$120B+Represented in the marketplace
100%Independently owned

Direct answer

What does an investment consultant search evaluate?

An institutional investment consultant search compares the people, advice, research, implementation resources, reporting, economics, conflicts, and service model behind each proposed relationship.

Independence matters

Alpha sits on the institution’s side of the table.

Alpha does not provide traditional investment consulting or outsourced investment management. It can evaluate investment consulting firms without competing for the mandate being awarded.

The process starts with the institution’s governance and required services, not a predetermined consultant list.

A defensible selection process

From mandate design to implementation.

Comparable evidence and clear decision roles help the committee focus on the relationship it will actually receive.

1

Define the mandate

Align the committee on objectives, governance, services, constraints, and the decisions the consultant will support.

2

Build the market

Identify institutional investment consulting firms with the capabilities, team, and client experience required for the assignment.

3

Evaluate consistently

Compare advice, research, implementation, reporting, fees, conflicts, and fit using common evidence and scoring criteria.

4

Select and implement

Support finalist diligence, references, fee and contract negotiation, committee documentation, and transition to the selected relationship.

Evaluation framework

Compare the team, process, evidence, and relationship.

PEOPLE

Experience and continuity

Assigned professionals, institutional client experience, team depth, decision ownership, turnover, succession, and references.

CAPABILITIES

Advice and implementation

Governance, asset allocation, manager research, private markets, risk, reporting, implementation support, and technology.

ALIGNMENT

Economics, negotiation, and conflicts

Advisory fees, fee negotiation, other compensation, proprietary products, manager relationships, service commitments, and cultural fit.

Who Alpha serves

Institutional consulting searches across different pools of capital.

Alpha supports pension and retirement plans, healthcare organizations and operating reserves, family offices, endowments and foundations, and other institutional investors. The evaluation framework is adapted to each owner’s governance, objectives, liquidity, complexity, and resources.

Explore family office search →

Consultant or OCIO?

Make the governance decision before selecting the firm.

Traditional consulting generally leaves more individual investment decisions with the institution. An OCIO accepts discretion for responsibilities defined in the mandate. Some organizations offer both models, so labels alone are not enough.

Compare the OCIO and consultant models →
What does an institutional investment consultant do?

An institutional investment consultant advises a board, investment committee, or investment staff on areas such as governance, investment policy, asset allocation, manager research, performance reporting, risk, and implementation. The institution generally retains decision authority unless the engagement includes delegated or discretionary services.

How should an institution compare investment consulting firms?

Institutions should compare the actual service team, research and decision process, implementation resources, reporting, manager access, conflicts, fees, client experience, and fit with the institution’s governance model. Brand recognition alone does not establish that a particular team or model is right for the mandate.

When should an institution run an investment consultant search?

Common triggers include governance changes, service or performance concerns, personnel turnover, a change in investment model, new reporting needs, fee questions, consolidation, or a fiduciary decision to validate the incumbent relationship through the market.

Does Alpha Capital provide investment consulting services?

No. Alpha Capital runs independent searches and evaluations for institutions. It does not compete for the investment consulting or OCIO mandates it helps clients evaluate.

A better selection process starts here

Run a better investment consultant search.

Alpha can help your institution define the mandate, compare investment consulting firms, conduct due diligence, and document a defensible decision.

Discuss a Consultant Search