Mercer Sentinel is a dedicated specialist team within Mercer Investments focused on advising on operational efficiency; that is, all the non-investment risks associated with investment operations and execution.
Mercer Sentinel is a dedicated specialist team within Mercer Investments focused on advising on operational efficiency; that is, all the non-investment risks associated with investment operations and execution.
We’re an industry leader, helping our clients reduce risk and potentially improve returns through better control and management of the activities associated with holding, trading, and servicing investment portfolios. Our approach provides a combination of extensive practical and operational experience, a deep resource base, proprietary database of industry best practices as well as analytical tools. Our team consists of more than 50 professionals located in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
Distinguishing well-managed operations and control environments from those that potentially expose clients to unnecessary risks and costs.
Setting up the right frameworks, evaluations and reporting to ensure your business is meeting market best practice.
Transitions present unique challenges and complexities, and oversight requires considerable experience and knowledge.
From selecting new custodians, to structuring new investment administration arrangements, to simply assessing value for money.
Consulting to institutional investors on all aspects of securities lending including route to market, program structures, and evaluating lenders.
Monitoring ongoing performance not only facilitates good governance; it supports a constructive dialogue with service providers, which should in turn lead to better execution and lower costs.
Distinguishing well-managed operations and control environments from those that potentially expose clients to unnecessary risks and costs.
We assess investment managers risk profiles to deliver a robust risk assessment that:
Our primary focus is to distinguish well-managed operations and control environments from those that potentially expose clients to unnecessary risks and costs. We benchmark investment managers against safe and sound practices, expressly considering increased risks and challenges associated with the investment mandate, firm size and significant third-party or outsourced relationships, along with the mitigating or compensating controls that a firm may have to manage potential issues.
Setting up the right frameworks, evaluations and reporting to ensure your business is meeting market best practice.
Most institutional investors are likely to monitor and understand gross returns on their investments, but to achieve optimal returns it’s crucial to evaluate revenue sources and costs, benchmarking capabilities, and operational/implementation performance. We can help you set up the right frameworks, evaluations and reporting to ensure your business is meeting market best practice.
Our team specifically looks at:
Transitions present unique challenges and complexities, and oversight requires considerable experience and knowledge.
Transitions represent potentially significant risks and material costs. Regardless of how simple they seem, each transition presents unique challenges and complexities; therefore, oversight requires considerable experience and knowledge.
Mercer Sentinel has market-leading solutions to assist and advise clients on all transition aspects. We focus on identifying, analysing and controlling risks and costs. Using our extensive global experience with trading, transition controls and capital market operations, we help clients address potential issues and complications prior to moving assets. We have developed unique and sophisticated methodologies to promote transparent cost and risk discovery.
We can help you add value in transitions by:
From selecting new custodians, to structuring new investment administration arrangements, to simply assessing value for money.
A custodian can be an invaluable partner in prudently managing, administering and overseeing institutional investments. Additionally, safe and sound investment administration and internal controls are cornerstones for virtually every investment arrangement.
We have one of the most comprehensive evaluation processes in the industry, combining our proprietary best practice benchmarking with onsite research and due diligence. Our process is thorough and transparent, ensuring objective and consistent comparative evaluations and monitoring. We help clients with a wide range of custody-related projects, from selecting new custodians to structuring new investment administration arrangements (for example, unbundled defined contribution plan operations) to simply assessing value for money.
Mercer Sentinel’s custody and investment administration consulting services include the full range of custodian searches, domestic and global; fee benchmarking; multi-country asset pooling solutions; middle and back office outsourcing; structuring investment administration arrangements and internal control frameworks; custodian change assistance; and performance monitoring.
Consulting to institutional investors on all aspects of securities lending including route to market, program structures, and evaluating lenders.
Mercer offers extensive experience in securities lending consultation.
Mercer has extensive experience consulting to institutional investors on all aspects of securities lending programs including identifying the most appropriate:
Monitoring ongoing performance not only facilitates good governance; it supports a constructive dialogue with service providers, which should in turn lead to better execution and lower costs.
Foreign currency trades are required in order to invest in foreign markets, repatriate income and manage currency exposures.
A significant number of foreign exchange (FX) transactions are automatically traded without reference to competitive rates. The level of the spread charged to investor's can vary enormously if not closely monitored, resulting in excess costs being incurred, ultimately eroding the value of their assets.
Mercer has been providing FX transaction cost monitoring for clients for many years and has observed consistently strong performance once a good monitoring process is established. Monitoring ongoing performance not only facilitates good governance; it supports a constructive dialogue with service providers, which should in turn lead to better execution and lower costs. Key benefits include greater transparency (leading to enhanced governance), improved execution, lower costs and increased portfolio value.
To learn how Mercer can assist with your organisations operational due diligence strategies complete the form below and a Mercer Consultant will be in contact with you.
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