Outside Manager Selection

We operate within an open architecture structure, utilizing both our internally managed equity strategies as well as externally managed funds, as appropriate. Depending on the needs and goals of the client, we may use any combination of various investment solutions for our clients’ portfolios such as internally managed equity strategies, mutual funds/exchange-traded funds, and individual investment-grade bonds.

As with our four equity strategies, the selection of all outside managers, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, partnerships, or separate account managers, is made in a disciplined and deliberate way. Our due diligence process includes a review of people, process, and performance. Our qualitative analysis focuses on whether a manager's decision-making processes are sound and repeatable so that we can depend on the fund to perform as we would expect. We place little emphasis on short-term performance history relative to a benchmark, and we consider risk an important element when evaluating performance.