Solutions // Platforms & Plan Sponsors

Pick a winning lineup.

Beneficiaries are counting on you to provide them with cost-effective investment options whose performance won't disappoint. Our tools can help you make critical fund selection decisions with greater structure, conviction and accuracy.

Use our analytics standalone or seamlessly in conjunction with other due diligence inputs.

Best-in-Class Vetting and Documentation of Investment Options

Plan sponsors aren't expected to be clairvoyant, but they do have a responsibility to make well-justified choices. Because active managers often underperform passive alternatives, sponsors can face a high due diligence bar when selecting appropriate fund choices.

Cut through the data overwhelm of performance ratios, research reports and ranking scorecards. Focus on actionable predictive analytics and sound decision frameworks that locate the most suitable investment options.

Arm your investment committee with objective, forward-looking metrics that describe, using plain language and elegant visualizations, exactly what they can expect from a selection decision ― along with "what-if" scenarios and statistical confidence intervals.

Clients served:

Fund Platforms, Distributors and Supermarkets
Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit Plans
Pension and Superannuation Funds

Searches
Identify which managers have the highest probability of meeting their objectives, if selected. Compare the skill level exhibited in widely disimilar funds on an equal basis.
Monitoring
Assess the drivers and quality of realized results given the manager's opportunity set. Estimate the likelihood that a switch would add value, and identify the optimal switching time.
Asset Allocation
Determine whether active management is warranted for a given exposure, as compared to the Best Passive Alternative. Simulate a wide range of market environments to understand active risk.

Boost Compliance

Document selection decisions with objective analytics supporting the rationale, prudence and cost-efficacy of your choices.

Do More In-House

Supercharge your internal capabilities with our technology for greater control, transparency and speed, while reducing costs.

Improve Performance

Increase risk-adjusted returns for beneficiaries by leveraging improved decision making tools to select investments.

Outputs Tailored to Your Exact Needs

All of our work is customized and produced on demand for the client's exclusive benefit, incorporating the latest available information and the specific parameters of the request.

Ad-Hoc Engagements

Get targeted help with a specific mandate, review exercise, presentation or other internal project with no ongoing commitment.

Fixed Retainer

Request Empirically analytics for an unlimited number of searches, manager reviews and other projects in one or more asset classes.

Case Study

Problem

A fiduciary wanted to offer plan members investment options which incorporated ESG priorities, as well as increase the diversity of its manager slate. However, it needed to ensure that the expected performance of these options was at least as good as available alternatives which lacked these characteristics.

Solution

Empirically conducted a quantitative analysis of the ESG-aware and diverse-managed strategy candidates. It identified which ones showed evidence of equal or better manager skill, and which had the lowest probability of underperforming the existing line-up over the next 3 and 5 years.

Case Study

Problem

A sponsor wanted to offer funds in its 401(k) plan that were managed by its own asset management division. The plan's board wanted to ensure that these funds offered comparable or better performance and cost characteristics as compared to third-party alternatives.

Solution

Empirically used its EPSE simulation capability to quantify the exact tradeoffs between the in-house and third-party product slates, as well as the probability that the best comparable third-party slate would outperform the in-house slate over the following 1, 3 and 5 years.

Case Study

Problem

Reviewing monthly and quarterly reports from more than 30 external managers created a major drain on the investment team's internal resources. It was unclear what should be prioritized and whether outlier results represented noise or a structural break.

Solution

Empirically developed a system to streamline the monitoring process by providing a clean dashboard of up-to-date, directly comparable predictive analytics. This allows the team to focus its limited resources on deeper attention to managers with greater underperformance risk.

Case Study

Problem

A defined contribution plan was evaluating under what conditions it should recommend passive versus active products to beneficiaries. It sought a way of quantifying the value of active management under different scenarios and in different product types.

Solution

Empirically identified the Best Passive Alternative for each of the actively managed funds being offered, and simulated them over a range of potential environments using its Premortem capability. The results revealed which areas were appropriate for active versus passive management.

Case Study

Problem

A superannuation fund wanted to provide unified reporting and tracking of its ESG exposures and risks. Writing, distributing and aggregating endless questionnaires, and dealing with missing and non-comparable data, had become a major headache for the team.

Solution

Empirically's RealESG capability provides the fund with objective quantitative measures of the actual (as opposed to stated) ESG exposures and behaviors of its active managers, updated quarterly with minimal time overhead. Plus, the tool estimates funds' proneness to future ESG controversies.

Evidence-Based Due Diligence Tools

Guided by the Empirically Compass, we can help ensure you make fully-informed choices that have the highest probability of meeting your objectives.

Start with Blocks

Unlike a traditional consulting firm, Empirically's analytical capabilities are organized into self-contained Blocks, each of which delivers a reliable and validated answer to an important due diligence question.

Build Workflows

Choose from our pre-designed Workflows or build your own custom ones to fit any project from collections of Blocks. Example Workflows include an Annual External Manager Review, an ESG Analysis, and a Cost vs. Value Analysis for a Fund Lineup.

Modify or Repeat On Demand

Most Workflows can be delivered in as little as 3 working days. Expert review and commentary is included, and we're also available to present the results by phone, video conference or in person.