PlanPILOT and its client Dominican University were recently interviewed for an article on Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) search services published by FIN News (part of NonProfit News). The article focused on how foundations and endowments are increasingly engaging an outside specialist to assist in navigating the complexity of the OCIO market.
Dominican explained how its staff had much on their plate and the task of rebidding its OCIO contract seemed years away, especially with the increased sophistication of investment portfolios and the complexity of OCIO and their various institutional models. Those barriers led the University to retain PlanPILOT to help navigate the rebidding initiative of reviewing and evaluating the options available for a firm to manage its endowment.
The article notes that with the OCIO industry expected to grow over 10% among non-profits over the next five years, according to a report from Cerulli Associates on behalf of BlackRock, more foundations and endowments are likely to turn to search consultants to assist with navigating what can be a difficult evaluation and search process.
“Having institutional quality oversight over the selection and monitoring of an OCIO provider is critical to meeting the institution’s financial goals and their fiduciary responsibilities. Retaining a search consultant, performing a thorough RFP and utilizing automated solutions are part and parcel of an effective governance process,” said PlanPILOT’s Frank Szymanek.
The article also highlighted InHub, which provides an on-line RFP technology utilized by PlanPILOT, has found that greater than 60% of discretionary endowment and foundation RFPs on its platform have a search consultant running the process as opposed to the less than 20% that use a search provider when seeking traditional consulting services, according to InHub. A good search consultant will make use of technology for database management.
Effective search consultants will build relationships with OCIO providers to help them navigate their searches with qualitative information about the firms. The ideal circumstance is that as the relationship unfolds the institution finds that its goals and philosophies remain aligned with those of the OCIO provider.
Ultimately, search consultants provide significant value to understaffed, resource-constrained non-profits as they hire and evaluate their OCIO provider.
Read the full article here (a subscription is required): https://www.fin-news.com/2019/09/05/foundations-and-endowments-find-help-for-navigating-complex-outsourced-cio-market/
How PlanPILOT Can Assist
If you need assistance with your OCIO oversight, look no further than PlanPILOT. Our experienced and independent OCIO search consulting process provides effective oversight for institutions of all sizes and types. We can work with you to help your institution achieve positive outcomes. Feel free to contact us to learn more about the services we offer.
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