Wealth & Finance International - January 2017

Wealth & Finance International 22 Uncovering the Hidden Gems lease give us a brief, overall description of what your firm does? Asset Strategy Consultants is a full-service investment consulting firm with over $7bn of plain assets We provide services to pension funds, endowments, foundations and insurance reserves. Can you go into more detail about the work your firm does in terms of equity investment? More recently in our 25-year history, we realised that the trend on pas- sive investments was a wise idea, so we have been allocating more in this area and this is currently under review. This will allow us more time to focus on private equity investments (or the less liquid component) of alternative investments in the portfolio which we thought going forward would add more value and improve the returns. The strategy, to swap out the traditional equity products for liquid alternatives, has been very successful. How does it feel to have been awarded Most Innovative Private Equity Investor of the Year 2016 – USA? This award is very special to me, and it validates the excellent work our analysts do for our clients, that is uncovering unique opportunities that are overlooked by larger investors. What role do staff play in the undoubted success of your firm? The staff here are very pro-active, and they seek out funds that have had a consistent track record, and rank in the top quartile but are usually overlooked by larger consulting firms. We think that the smaller AUM managers are capable, and are showing a stronger return, and our clients like the extra efforts we supply in uncovering the hidden gems. How would you characterise the clientele your firm serves? The general theme is that we serve tax-exempt clients, typically they will have a portfolio anywhere north of $25m and public or private plans, schools, private foundations, insurance reserves characterise the firm’s inception. What kind feedback do you receive from your clientele? The clients have expressed have given us positive feedback on the strong results, particularly in the co-investment early stage private equity type of investments. If they were a little sceptical, the market has certainly been very favourable towards this particular area of alternative investments, and the ideas that our clients have committed to have performed exceptionally well. In addition to winning this prestigious award, can you give any other examples of any successes your company has had? I would say that co-investments are very good both in the private equity and venture capital sectors, and we have even found some very unique opportunities in the non-investment grade debt that provides equity like returns with a strong income. What opportunities and challenges does your firm face in 2017 and beyond? There is always the fundamental challenge of doing ongoing research and due diligence into managers that you have not heard of, and it takes increased intensity and curiosity to find those gems. We are also finding an increasing number of the private equity firms are hearing about or efforts with smaller and undiscovered managers, and they are finding their way to Baltimore and see us which has been very helpful. We now need to focus on only focussing on those managers who are rigorous in maintaining their disciplines on the valuations that they are buying into on the private equity side - they are not overpaying to do the deal. The challenge is to be assured that that they are going to continue to be disciplined. Looking at the wider picture, what opportunities and challenges lie ahead for the industry you work in? We need to selectively grow the business, and we also need to take in clients where we can also add value. More clients are willing to go into alternative investments today, and they appreciate that we provide an educational background in order for them to make that decision. We take this very seriously, to help them understand that while you give up liquidity, it is really not as risky as they might think. We do this all the time, so we are comfortable with this. Is there anything else that you would like to add? We really appreciate the award and the compliments from our clients, in trusting us to lead them into the world of alternative or private equity investments, and they feel validated that we are helping them to meet their overall term targets and spending needs. Company: Asset Strategy Consultants Name: Edwin R. Boyer, Principal & Sr. Consultant Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.assetstrategyconsultants.com Address: 6 North Park Drive, Suite 208 Hunt Valley, MD 21030-1820 Telephone: +1 410 528 8282 Founded in 1991, Asset Strategy Consultants (ASC) is a privately held, independent investment management consulting firm. They provide unbiased, customised consulting solutions to fiduciaries of endowments/foundations, retirement plans and insurance companies. We caught up with the firm’s Principal & Sr. Consultant Edwin R. Boyer to ascertain more about the work of this independent consulting firm founded in 1991, and his reflections on winning the Most Innovative Private Equity Investor of the Year 2016 award. P 1701WF17