Asset Management Consulting

Integration of SDGs and ESG Pillars 🌎 For businesses committed to sustainability, effectively categorizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) pillars can streamline strategic planning and operational execution. This approach clarifies how initiatives within these pillars can directly contribute to achieving broader global goals, thus enhancing business impact and compliance. The Environmental Pillar of ESG aligns with SDGs focused on ecological stability, such as Climate Action, Clean Water and Sanitation, and Affordable and Clean Energy. Businesses that enhance their environmental strategies not only adhere to regulatory demands but also drive efficiencies in resource use, which can lead to reduced operational costs and improved market positioning. Under the Social Pillar, SDGs like Quality Education, Gender Equality, and Decent Work and Economic Growth are pivotal. By focusing on these areas, companies can foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment, enhancing employee satisfaction and community relations, which are crucial for long-term business sustainability and customer loyalty. The Governance Pillar supports the achievement of SDGs related to ethical practices and equitable growth, including Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, and Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. Strengthening governance can help businesses manage risk, operate transparently, and maintain compliance with increasing legal standards, securing trust and support from investors and stakeholders. Integrating SDGs with ESG initiatives allows businesses to not only address specific global challenges but also to enhance their strategic planning processes. This structured approach provides a clear pathway for companies to evaluate their impact, set measurable targets, and communicate progress in a manner that resonates with global standards and stakeholder expectations. Furthermore, while the example diagram shows one method of mapping SDGs to ESG pillars, businesses are encouraged to adapt this framework to better suit their specific contexts and strategic objectives. Understanding and applying this integration effectively empowers companies to tackle complex sustainability challenges, paving the way for innovation and leadership in their industries. By leveraging the SDGs as a guide to categorize and prioritize ESG efforts, businesses can ensure that their sustainability initiatives are not only impactful but also aligned with global objectives, enhancing overall business resilience and reputation. #sustainability #sustainable #business #esg #climatechange #climateaction #sdgs #impact #strategy

If you're navigating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) integration in your organization, ISO standards offer globally recognized frameworks to structure and elevate your efforts. Here are some key ISO standards relevant to ESG: ✅ Environmental (E): ♻️ ISO 14001 – Environmental Management Systems 💧 ISO 14046 – Water Footprint 🌱 ISO 14064 – Greenhouse Gas Accounting & Verification 🔁 ISO 50001 – Energy Management Systems 🔍 ISO 14067 – Carbon Footprint of Products ✅ Social (S): 👥 ISO 26000 – Guidance on Social Responsibility 🧑🏫 ISO 21001 – Educational Organizations Management Systems ⚖️ ISO 45001 – Occupational Health & Safety 🏗️ ISO 30414 – Human Capital Reporting ✅ Governance (G): 🔐 ISO 37001 – Anti-Bribery Management Systems 🔍 ISO 37301 – Compliance Management Systems 🧭 ISO 37000 – Guidance for Governance of Organizations 🔎 ISO/IEC 38500 – Governance of IT These standards are not just checklists—they’re tools to enhance credibility, manage risk, and drive sustainable performance. #ESG #Sustainability #ISOStandards #Governance #Environment #SocialImpact #Compliance #RiskManagement #GreenTransition #SustainableLeadership #NetZero #IFRS #ClimateDisclosure

Data Analysis CFOs Here is how you really make data driven decisions: You need to understand that there are four key types of data analysis And every CFO should master them --- 📚 Before you dive in, you can get my free top 100 Data Analysis Tips here: https://lnkd.in/eAk-6di8 --- 1. Descriptive Analysis – “Measuring what happened” Helps summarize past data such as financial statements, KPIs, or sales reports. ✅ Improved Financial Performance: Identify high-profit areas, optimize spending, and drive profitability. Example: A retail CFO reduced product costs by 10% by identifying underperforming SKUs. 📊 KPIs to track: Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR): (Ending Value / Beginning Value) ^ (1 / # Years) - 1 Gross Profit Margin: (Revenue – Cost of Goods Sold) / Revenue Return on Assets (ROA): (Net Income / Total Assets) 🔧 Tools to use: Excel, Power BI —- 2. Diagnostic Analysis – “Why it happened” Explores the root causes of financial performance by identifying key drivers of change. ✅ Better Decision-Making: Pinpoint areas of improvement by using variance and trend analysis. Example: “80% of revenue came from just 20% of clients—explaining the uptick in profits.” 📊 Methods to use: Variance Analysis (Budget vs. Actuals) Price Volume Mix (PVM) Analysis 🔧Practical Tip: Use PVM to understand how to improve your profitability —- 3. Predictive Analysis – “Forecasting what will happen” Uses advanced statistical models to predict future outcomes, like cash flow or profit margins. ✅ Improved Forecasting: Plan for future expenses and revenue with greater accuracy. Example: A software CFO forecasted a 15% revenue drop and adjusted expenses accordingly. 📊 Methods to use: Linear regression: as an example, predicting future sales based on past sales and other influencing factors like marketing spend or seasonality. Time Series Analysis: Forecasting future values based on seasonality 🔧 Tools to use: Python, IBM SPSS, Excel, Tableau —- 4. Prescriptive Analysis – “Analyzing which factor to influence” Recommends actionable steps to address key risks and optimize performance. ✅ Risk Management: Monitor key financial indicators and adjust strategies proactively. Example: Prescriptive analysis used to adjust the pricing strategy to optimize the supply chain constraints and maximizing profits. 📊 Methods to use: Decision Analysis: Assessing investment decisions by simulating market conditions to determine the probability of achieving different levels of return. Reinforcement Learning: Developing a recommendation engine that learns customer preferences over time and dynamically adjusts prices. 🔧 Tools to use: Decision Tree Software (e.g., MATLAB, R), Tableau, Python

A lot of students / graduates are interested in 'consulting' careers. But very few have heard of 'Investment Consulting'. Here's what investment consultants do explained in basic English: Investment consultants are a specific type of consultant. They specialise in advising institutional investors (pension funds, endowments, foundations, and wealth management firms) on their investment portfolios. The primary roles and services provided by investment consultants include: 1. Portfolio Analysis and Design: Assessing the client's investment goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon to design customised investment portfolios aligned with their objectives. 2. Asset Allocation Strategy: Developing strategic asset allocation plans by determining the optimal mix of asset classes (stocks, bonds, real estate, alternatives, etc.) based on market conditions and client preferences. 3. Manager Selection and Due Diligence: Evaluating and selecting investment managers or funds across various asset classes. Conducting thorough due diligence on investment managers to assess performance, track record, investment philosophy, and risk management processes. 4. Performance Monitoring and Reporting: Continuously monitoring investment performance, conducting periodic reviews, and providing detailed reports to clients on portfolio performance compared to benchmarks and objectives. 5. Risk Management: Identifying and managing investment risks by implementing risk mitigation strategies and monitoring market risks, liquidity risks, and other relevant factors. 6. Market Research and Trends Analysis: Keeping clients informed about market trends, economic indicators, regulatory changes, and emerging investment opportunities to help make informed decisions. 7. Strategic Advice and Consulting: Offering strategic guidance on complex investment decisions, asset allocation shifts, and adapting investment strategies in response to changing market conditions. Prominent investment consulting firms in this space include Mercer, Aon, WTW (Willis Towers Watson), and Cambridge Associates. These firms play a crucial role in guiding institutional investors to optimise their investment decisions, achieve diversification, and maximise returns while managing risks in their portfolios. The next time you hear 'consulting' be sure to know the term encompasses many different types of consulting including: 1. Investment Consulting 2. Management Consulting 3. Strategy Consulting 4. Financial Consulting, etc. If you found this insightful, follow me Afzal Hussein for daily content like this. #Consulting #InvestmentConsulting #Careers #Finance #Students

Manager Selection: The Hidden Alpha Engine “It’s not just the strategy. It’s who’s driving the car.” We obsess over strategies: macro vs long/short, private equity vs credit. But in alternatives, it’s often not what you buy—it’s who you back. Top-quartile managers can outperform by thousands of basis points. And yet, due diligence often gets treated like a checkbox. I’ve seen funds with dazzling decks and nothing under the hood. And I’ve seen quieter managers with airtight process, discipline, and skin in the game deliver decade-long outperformance. Manager selection isn’t always glamorous. But it’s your real edge. Don’t chase alpha. Allocate to it. #bealternative So how do you identify the right managers—and avoid the wrong ones? Here are five actionable principles backed by Hedge Fund Due Diligence, Due Diligence and Risk Assessment of an Alternative Investment Fund, and Private Equity Compliance: 1. Prioritize Behavioral Red Flags Over Marketing Shine Most blowups stem from behavioral warning signs—not poor returns. – Be alert to evasive answers, overpromising, and CV inconsistencies. – If the manager can’t clearly explain their worst drawdown, walk away. Operational risk often wears a smile. 2. Use a Layered Due Diligence Framework – Investment: strategy clarity, mandate discipline, leverage use. – Operational: NAV policies, service providers, valuation controls. – Manager: track record, co-investment, legal history. A strong fund passes all three layers—not just the first. 3. Move Beyond the Checklist Mentality – Ask how—not just what. – Request audit letters, compliance manuals, fund org charts. – Evaluate how quickly and how clearly information is shared. It’s not what’s disclosed. It’s how it’s delivered. 4. Re-underwrite Annually—Not Just at Allocation Diligence doesn’t stop once the subscription agreement is signed. – Monitor for style drift, team turnover, and audit delays. – Build an annual risk scorecard: manager alignment, NAV consistency, valuation transparency. Great managers stay great when they’re held accountable. 5. Investigate the “Why” Behind the Performance Outperformance isn’t always repeatable—but process is. – Ask: “What edge do you believe is durable?” – Review decision-making consistency, not just returns. – Confirm fee alignment, risk-adjusted mindset, and long-term incentive structure. Strong governance and repeatable process beat personality and narrative—every time. Alpha doesn’t live in the deck. It lives in the decisions behind it. What’s your non-negotiable when assessing a manager beyond performance? #bealternative

During annual reviews and meetings with new prospective families, I have been reviewing a plethora of 401k plans and documents. I wanted to share my 4 BIG takeaways and provide potential real-life next steps for you to consider. ☑ Don’t Save Too Fast In almost every other area of life, saving and investing more is encouraged. With an employer-sponsored retirement plan, that is not always the case. In many plans, you only get your employer match during the period you make contributions. In other words, if you max out your plan before the final paycheck of the calendar year, you could be forfeiting a portion of the employer match. You must understand your employer's plan. Fortunately, every plan must make a plan document available to you upon request. Your plan provider can provide a wealth of insight with a simple phone call. ☑ Beneficiary Designations While this one might seem obvious, mistakes happen way too often. Find the beneficiary tab of your employer plan online and confirm you have the correct beneficiaries. Common mistakes: parent instead of a spouse, ex-spouse, minor children ☑ Breaking Up with Your Target Date Fund For most employer-sponsored retirement plans, your investment contributions go to a target date fund by default. This is based on the year that you turn 65. For example, if you were born in 1980, your default investment option might be the ABC Target Date 2045 Fund. I do not think a person’s age should determine how their investments should be allocated. On average, I see that the average expense ratio in large employer plans is generally 0.40 to 0.45%. Inside the TDF, the fund allocates the funds to a combination of U.S. and International Stocks, Bonds, and cash. If you have a written financial plan, it should detail the investment asset allocation to help you optimally pursue funding your dreams. This could often be achieved by selecting 3-5 index funds without your 401k lineup. I see that passive index funds have an average expense ratio of 0.05%. ☑ Rebalance and Redirect When changing from target-date funds to your own mix of index funds, there are essentially 3 critical steps. First, you need to rebalance your existing holdings to the desired mix. Second, you need to re-direct future contributions to the desired mix. Finally, you need to select a date to do an annual rebalance. Hopefully, the plan provider will have an option for you to select to make this happen automatically. ★ Conclusion In a recent Vanguard study, Vanguard attempted to quantify the value of advice. They suggest that financial planners can add .45% of value by recommending low-cost index options and .35% for rebalancing. Hopefully, by reading this post, you improved your lifetime annual returns by 0.80% per year. Cheers, Nic #National401kDay

I recently received a comment from a financial advisor on one of my posts asking how to encourage investors to spend with confidence during the decumulation phase, when retirees begin withdrawing from their savings. This will take some time, especially if they’ve just entered retirement. They need to shift their mindset from “save and don’t touch it,” to “it’s okay to spend to enjoy my retirement.” That mindset shift is definitely easier in certain markets, but when the market enters bear territory, investors may be especially worried about the sustainability of their retirement funds. There are a few things you can do. First, make sure your clients remain in their long-term, diversified portfolios. Next, present a historical perspective: the markets go up and they go down. Lastly, help customize a withdrawal strategy to match what’s happening in the markets. Adjusting spending by as little as 5% can dramatically increase an investor’s probability of success. While this may lead to a short-term decrease in spending ability, it allows an investor to navigate rough patches and ensures their accumulated assets continue to last throughout retirement–so they can spend with confidence! https://lnkd.in/eWiEtCq3

Bigger Playing Field, Greater Potential: Increasingly, investors prefer portfolio solutions that capture a range of non-core fixed income sectors of the market through a single product offering. Capital Allocators benefit from a dynamic allocation model that is cost-effective, continuous, and optimal. The challenge is to identify Multi-Asset Credit Managers with superior security selection and sector rotation skills with capabilities across that invest across the full range of the Public Global Credit markets. Clients have traditionally focused on High Yield and Leveraged Loans as their anchor for portfolio allocations, considering these two sectors multi-asset credit. I believe this narrow definition of multi-strategy credit is inferior to a model that captures a wider spectrum, optimized to captured alpha. A credit manager with dedicated teams of credit teams that offer this bandwidth is discussed in the Marathon Multi-Asset White Paper below. Marathon Asset Management's research suggests a superior risk-reward proposition is achieved by unbiased sector rotation across a full range of credit segments, including High Yield Bonds, Broadly Syndicated Loans, Liquid Structured Credit, and Emerging Market Debt. The White Paper distills additional factors critical to achieve optimal portfolio construction, one based on active management to attain the desired performance results. 

🔍 What if your $1B endowment could access the same investment firepower as Harvard or Yale—without moving to New York or Boston? That’s exactly what Rip Reeves and LSU Foundation did, and the results are impressive. 💡 The OCIO Advantage - LSU partnered with Cambridge Associates, giving them world-class research and access to top-tier investments—even from Baton Rouge. “You basically rent a global team of hundreds,” says Rip. 👉 Why? - Smaller pools can’t attract the same talent internally. OCIO lets you punch above your weight. 📊 Portfolio Magic - 40% stocks, 30% bonds, 30% alternatives. Sound familiar? It’s the Yale Endowment Model—evolved. 👉 Why? - Wide guardrails, not rigid rules. Flexibility is key for outperformance. 🌍 Global Access, Local Roots - Even with just $1B, LSU gets into deals and funds that would otherwise be out of reach—thanks to pooled allocations and volume discounts. 🤝 Building Relationships Rip Reeves shares how he vets managers: - In-person office visits (arrive early, listen to hallway chatter) - Sports games, dinners, and casual meetups (see how they really are) - Reputation checks (what do others say behind their back?) 💬 Best Practices for GPs - Be cool, not pushy. - Follow up with a warm call, not a cold pitch. - Join events where real relationships form. - Be transparent about your goals. 🚀 Why This Matters - 90% of portfolio performance comes from asset allocation—not manager selection. Are you optimizing yours? Or are you just chasing “sexy” managers? #Finance #Investing #AssetManagement #Investmentstrategy #Innovation #CIO Link to Podcast in Comments Below 👇

After wasting a LOT of capital “learning” how to invest in private equity, I wanted to share 3 simple lessons that I believe can help others. Over the last 8 years, I’ve made over 30 investments in a variety of private equity deals, including: - Direct companies as an angel investor - Limited Partner in several VC funds - Investments through syndicates (such as those organized and held by AngelList) My original thesis was to diversify from the typical investment asset classes (core businesses, public equity, fixed income, and real estate) but also learn from other businesses / founders and industries beyond my own. As one would expect, most of these investments did not return a multiple on invested, but some did. Here are 3 things I learned along the way: 1. Simply DON’T DO IT unless you have a mentor. Find someone who has spent at least 20 years investing in private equity. I’m being very specific about the level of experience because you need to learn from someone who has lived through a couple of boom and bust cycles, but also is very knowledgeable in underwriting companies and their structures. Friends and family will come to you and pitch their great ideas, but the technicalities are rarely assessed. 2. Maximize your own core businesses first. Find all the ways you can invest more in accelerating or expanding your core business / build enterprise value before you seek private equity opportunities. 3. Invest in companies and industries where you can be truly accretive with your dollars. Focus where can you provide value through your own expertise and experience that can help mitigate downside, while influencing upside. Better yet, if you invest, see if you can become a trusted vendor to the company somehow and make them a paying client. I hope these simple lessons are valuable to other investors. If you’ve been down a similar path, how would you summarize your learnings?