Institutional investors are asset owners and asset allocators, which range from traditional defined benefit plans to endowments & foundations, family offices and more recently Outsourced Chief Investment Officers (OCIO) who manage assets on a discretionary and non-discretionary basis for their end clients and/or beneficiaries.
As the extent of institutional investing has evolved over the last couple decades, so has the sophistication and the approach to portfolio construction and types of solutions that are available to institutional investors. Some of these newer and more innovative approaches include Total Portfolio Solutions and Risk Mitigation Framework. EKR advises its clients on creating these frameworks in a gradual and thoughtful fashion while ensuring an effective and efficient transition to a more holistic portfolio construction.
Over the last decade institutional investment landscape has also evolved to incorporate Environmental Social and Governance ("ESG") and Responsible Investing considerations into their investment and risk management with a particular focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ("DEI"). While research has been clear as to the benefits of DEI, the implementation has been slower than envisioned particularly in investments due to challenges in hiring, promoting and retaining talent in such a niche part of the industry. While there is a wide variety of tools and frameworks for corporations to incorporate DEI into their organizational structures, investment related fields and investment roles still suffer from lack thereof. Given its expertise in ESG and DEI particularly in investments, EKR advises its clients on best practices in creating and implementing customized DEI frameworks geared towards their investment and front office teams.