Conacher Advisory

Independent Advice for Asset Managers Preparing for Important Client Engagements. We put you in the evaluator’s seat, revealing how your investment capability is understood and valued

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We put you in the evaluator’s seat, revealing how your investment capability is understood and valued

The gap between a good rating and the highest one is often small. So is the gap between managers competing for a mandate. These margins can decide whether the strategy makes a model portfolio or whether you win the mandate. The outcome can come down to how the capability is presented, how it is positioned for the assessment criteria and how the Q&A is handled.

Our investment due diligence readiness service is designed to unearth those potential enhancements while there is still time to act on them.

Independent Advice for Asset Managers Preparing for Important Client Engagements

Each engagement is scoped to your requirements. A typical structure:

  1. 01

    Agree on Project Scope

    Context, objectives, agreed assessment criteria and deliverables.

  2. 02

    Desk based review

    Agreed materials and data provided

  3. 03

    Practice due diligence meeting

    In person / MS Teams dress rehearsal, with live questioning

  4. 04

    Conacher Advisory assessment

    • Quantitative assessment
    • Qualitative assessment
    • Due diligence materials and presentation
  5. 04

    Written assessment

    Report delivered to you

  6. 04

    Feedback call

    Discuss written assessment

  7. 04

    Enhancements for Consideration

    • Capability
    • Value proposition
    • Positioning for specific assessment criteria
    • Q&A responses

Time commitment: Expect a similar time commitment from your relationship managers and investment team as preparing for the real engagement

Why Choice Us

Engagements are scoped to a defined objective

A few examples of what that looks like in practice:

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Investment Due Diligence Readiness

Tailored preparation for due diligence meetings, capability presentations, investment committee sessions and significant client reviews. Working from an asset owner’s perspective, we:

  • Challenge how your investment capability is presented
  • Identify assessment criteria that are underdeveloped or unclear
  • Preparation for Q&A which may arise during your presentation
 
Typically delivered as a realistic practice meeting (agenda, request for information etc), with a written assessment against the criteria evaluators apply, followed by a feedback meeting with the meeting attendees.
A grounded introduction to the Australian market, for managers preparing to enter it.

Entering the Australian market for the first time, or moving into a new part of it, means getting across a lot quickly. We cover:

  • Distribution channels, major players, advisers and gatekeepers
  • Partner or build distribution: the right entry approach for your business
  • Market trends and regulatory change
 
Delivered as a report followed by a meeting, arranged as required, at a scope that suits the situation.
An experienced independent view, available when you need one.

Not every question warrants a full engagement. Some need a considered second opinion from someone who has sat on the other side of the table. Examples include:

  • a sounding board ahead of a significant client meeting or new product launch
  • preparation for a first meeting with an unfamiliar type of allocator
  • a review of an RFP or questionnaire response before submission
A practical session on how research houses, consultants and asset owners reach a view on your capability.

Drawn from first-hand experience assessing managers and sitting inside investment selection processes, these sessions show your team how the other side of the table works. Your team will understand:

  • How a capability is scored, and which criteria carry the most weight
  • Practical tips for managing difficult questions and how to not get sidetracked
  • Practical tips for things to do before, during and after a due diligence meeting

 

Delivered as a tailored session for internal training, leadership offsites or team development.

Investment Due Diligence Readiness

"The dress rehearsal for the meeting that matters"

Detailed Australian Market Overview

"Australia, decoded for offshore managers"

Clear Independent Strategic Advice

"A second opinion from someone who's sat in the chair"

Allocator Perspective Masterclass

"How you're really scored, and which criteria carry the weight"

Independent by Design

Challenge established ways of thinking

An independent perspective helps overcome the familiarity that develops within any team, providing challenge that isn’t influenced by internal relationships, organisational dynamics or established ways of thinking. We complement the expertise already within your organisation.
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Every engagement is confidential

Every engagement is strictly confidential. What we learn together inside your business stays there. It is not carried into other engagements and does not inform work for another manager. Where an engagement would create a conflict, we will say so before it begins.
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No capital raisings or prospect intros

We don’t provide third-party marketing, capital raisings or prospect introductions. No competitor analysis or benchmarking. Those choices are deliberate. They let you speak openly, knowing our advice is centred on your business, not on comparisons with other firms or competing commercial interests.
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Expertise spanning asset manager research, investment governance, and risk.

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Matt has spent his career assessing asset managers, conducting investment due diligence from four vantage points:

  • A retail dealer group
  • A research house
  • An institutional asset consultant
  • An asset owner (insurance)

His experience also includes investment governance, risk management, portfolio construction and implementation. He’s presented recommendations to investment committees, executive teams and boards throughout his career.

Matt holds a Master of Business Administration from Macquarie Graduate School of Management, a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment from FINSIA, and a Bachelor of Applied Finance from Macquarie University.

Outside work, Matt spends time with his two children and still plays basketball socially, now shooting considerably more three-pointers than his previous coaches would have approved of.

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