Our Approach

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We start with a targeted information request to build a clear picture of your current framework. This may include incentive plan documents, recent compensation analyses, governance materials, investment policy statements, and organizational data. This review allows us to tailor our approach to your structure, strategy, and operating environment. 

We engage directly with your leadership, committee members, and other key stakeholders to understand strategic goals, performance expectations, and organizational dynamics. Discussions cover:

• Decision-making: How investment decisions are made and where the team adds the most value. 
• Organizational benchmarking: How your structure compares to peers and who you compete with for investment talent.
• Performance philosophy: The right balance of quantitative and qualitative measures. 
• Market positioning: Where total compensation should sit relative to competitive peers at different performance levels.

We benchmark your team’s base salaries and incentive opportunities against the competitive market. This includes:

• Peer group design: Selecting the right comparison set (e.g., top 50 endowments & foundations, leading public funds, etc.). 
• Market positioning targets: Setting competitive positioning goals (e.g., target salaries at the median, target max pay at the 75th percentile, etc.). 
• Gap analysis: Identifying where current pay levels align—or misalign—with your strategy.

We deliver a strategic assessment of your current plan’s alignment with best practices, governance expectations, and your stated philosophy. Where improvement is needed, we outline one to three well-developed design alternatives with clear trade-offs, modeled outcomes, and implementation considerations.

We guide an interactive workshop with your decision-makers to refine options, evaluate trade-offs, and build consensus. By the end, stakeholders are aligned on philosophy, priorities, and the preferred plan direction. 

We present the recommended plan to your Compensation Committee, Board, and/or Management as appropriate—ensuring clarity, addressing questions, and securing formal buy-in. 

We document the final incentive structure in a concise term sheet outlining key features: structure, performance metrics, payout mechanics, and governance provisions. If phased implementation is needed, we provide a practical transition plan to ensure a smooth rollout. 

As needed, we assist with execution—drafting plan documents, preparing employee communications, back-testing and stress-testing outcomes, and partnering with your investment consultant and/or CIO to calibrate outperformance expectations. This ensures the plan is not only approved but ready for successful, confident rollout.