The Chestnut Solutions Institute™ Introduces New Frameworks to Help Investors and Solutions Providers

The Institute's Defining Investment Solutions Report Is a Step Toward Establishing Common Investment Solutions Standards for this Rapidly-Growing Market Segment

NAPLES, Fla., April 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chestnut Solutions Institute™ ("CSI") launched in 2023 as an independent, membership-based forum for investment solutions providers, asset managers and investment consultants with a mission to help this rapidly-growing industry establish and promote strong standards and norms.

In the Institute's first research report, Defining Investment Solutions, CSI addresses a foundational issue facing all investment market participants today: what exactly is an investment solution, and how can each investor select the best solutions to serve their needs?

Institutional and retail investors alike are increasingly seeking both bespoke and holistic solutions (such as discretionary portfolio construction, risk management, custom vehicles, etc.) to help them improve governance and achieve their investment goals. For example, Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) services, a type of investment solution, are one of the fastest-growing investment solutions segments today. Global OCIO AUA surpassed $2.5 trillion in 2023, and in this report Chestnut introduces its new forecast of $3.93 trillion global OCIO AUA by 2028.

"The solutions industry's rapid growth is, ironically, also the source of the industry's biggest handicap," remarks Amanda Tepper, Managing Partner. "Both the increasingly complex scope of investor objectives and the ever-more-extensive range of solutions products and services have grown faster than the industry's ability to articulate, educate and prescribe appropriate solutions to investors."

The Investment Solution Maze Facing Investors Today
The Defining Investment Solutions report draws on recent proprietary market research to examine the current state of the investment solutions industry. One surprising finding is that the investment solutions selection process today is driven more by relationships than by evaluation of any of the other capabilities required to successfully deliver the solution. For example, a previous relationship with the client was cited as a top 2 hiring factor by 60% of respondents, while only 17% cited the OCIO's investment performance track record. Not one respondent cited risk management capabilities.

The Institute's proposed investment solutions selection framework detailed in this new report aims to help investors find the right solutions provider and product to meet their needs, and vice versa. "Our new investment solutions evaluation framework highlights capabilities that are often overlooked and underappreciated, yet are critical to the proper implementation of an investment program." says Ravi Venkataraman, Managing Partner. "While other, more mature investment industry segments enjoy widely accepted standards and norms creating clarity and investor trust, the solutions industry today is not well-defined or widely understood." 

Other key elements of the report include:

• Factors driving the rapid growth of investment solutions
• The highest growth investor segments for both OCIO and non-OCIO investment solutions
• Breadth of capabilities and solutions available in the market, introducing frameworks for provider types and capabilities
• Types of solutions providers and their relevance to specific investors
• Actual investment solutions hiring factors today

About Chestnut Advisory Group and The Chestnut Solutions Institute

Chestnut Advisory Group ("Chestnut") is a boutique, practitioner-led management consulting firm dedicated to asset managers and investment solutions providers. Since its founding in 2013, Chestnut has provided bespoke advisory services in the areas of strategy, products and solutions, go-to-market strategy, M&A, implementation and distribution leadership coaching and training.

As Chestnut's consulting work increasingly focused on the investment solutions industry, the firm launched The Chestnut Solutions Institute ("CSI") in 2023. CSI is an independent forum for investment solutions providers and their partners, dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry. The Institute's independent market research, thought leadership, and engagement with investment solutions industry participants aims to provide greater clarity to this valuable industry segment, benefitting investors, providers, and the solutions ecosystem at large. 

For more information, please visit www.chestnutadvisory.com or email [email protected].

Media Inquiries: 
For additional information regarding this report or to learn more about the Chestnut Solutions Institute, please email [email protected] or call us at (941) 212-0298.

SOURCE Chestnut Advisory Group