Pension and retirement plan search
Alpha helps pension fiduciaries translate funded status, liabilities, governance, liquidity, implementation needs, and plan objectives into a disciplined comparison of OCIO providers and investment consultants.
Direct answer
The right relationship should fit the plan’s funded status, liability profile, governance capacity, risk objectives, liquidity needs, implementation model, reporting requirements, and fiduciary responsibilities.
Plan first
Defined benefit, defined contribution, frozen, and de-risking plans can require different governance, investment, and implementation capabilities.
Alpha begins with the plan’s actual requirements, then evaluates qualified firms against consistent evidence. Because Alpha does not manage assets, its role remains aligned with the sponsor and fiduciaries throughout the decision.
Pension-specific priorities
Clarify sponsor, board, committee, staff, consultant, and delegated-provider responsibilities before comparing firms.
Connect liabilities, contribution policy, liquidity, risk tolerance, return objectives, and de-risking priorities to the mandate.
Compare implementation, risk management, reporting, all-in economics, transition requirements, and continuing fiduciary support.
A documented selection process
Document funded status, liabilities, objectives, constraints, governance, delegation, and required services.
Identify investment consultants and OCIO firms with relevant pension capabilities and institutional resources.
Assess the proposed team, process, portfolio, liability context, risk, performance, service model, and fees.
Support finalist diligence, references, fee and contract negotiation, documentation, transition, and oversight.
Common questions
The mandate should reflect the institution’s actual governance and investment needs—not a provider’s standard category or sales process.
A pension plan should compare governance support, liability awareness, asset allocation, risk management, implementation, manager research, performance evidence, reporting, fees, conflicts, and the experience of the team assigned to the plan.
Funded status, liability profile, contribution policy, liquidity, risk capacity, and de-risking objectives shape the services and investment approach the plan needs. They should be defined before providers are asked to propose a solution.
Yes. Alpha can structure an independent evaluation of the incumbent relationship, benchmark services and fees, assess fit, and help fiduciaries decide whether a broader search is warranted.
No. Alpha provides independent search and evaluation support and does not offer investment consulting or OCIO services, so it does not compete for the mandate.
A better selection process starts here
Alpha can help define the mandate, compare qualified OCIO and consultant firms, evaluate fees and evidence, negotiate the relationship, and support a documented selection.
Discuss a Pension Search