For OCIOs
Allocator Desk for OCIOs
The multi-client diligence and coverage system for outsourced CIOs.
OCIOs run shared manager research across many client relationships. The challenge is not only producing strong manager research - it is keeping every client recommendation, side letter, IC discussion, and follow-up aligned with that research as the firm grows. Allocator Desk is built for that operating layer.
The workflow today
An OCIO firm runs a central research team that approves managers for a buy list, then portfolio management teams turn those views into client-specific recommendations and commitments. Each client has its own IPS, IC, and reporting expectations.
The core operational tension is keeping client-specific work (side letters, IC presentations, follow-ups) synchronized with central research updates (rating changes, key person events, fund closures). When research updates a view, every affected client relationship needs to be revisited - quickly and consistently.
Adding a new portfolio manager or onboarding a new client typically means rebuilding context from scratch, even though most of it lives elsewhere in the firm.
Allocator Desk does not replace portfolio accounting, performance reporting, or research databases. It connects manager research, client-specific decisions, obligations, notes, and follow-ups into one operational record.
What gets lost today
Research-to-client distribution
When the research team downgrades a manager, the trail of which clients were informed and what action was taken is often informal.
Client-specific side letter terms
The same manager held across 40 clients can have 40 different side letter terms - rarely consolidated.
Cross-client IC discussion patterns
Recurring concerns across client ICs (e.g. liquidity, fee transparency) are observable but never aggregated.
PM onboarding context
New PMs inherit a client relationship with little structured context about why each recommendation was made.
Risks that show up in diligence and governance
Fiduciary consistency across similar clients
When two clients with similar mandates receive different recommendations, the firm needs to know why - and be able to show the reasoning later.
Research update lag
Time between a research view change and the corresponding client-facing follow-up is one of the firm's largest operational risks.
Cross-client conflicts
Capacity-constrained funds, co-invest opportunities, and side letter terms require careful allocation across clients.
Recommendation drift from firm view
Without a shared record, client-specific recommendations can quietly diverge from the firm's current research view.
How Allocator Desk becomes the system of record
Multi-client coverage
Manager research lives at the firm level; client-specific recommendations, commitments, side letters, IC notes, and follow-ups link back to it.
Signals and obligations
Research-level signals propagate to every affected client relationship; client-specific obligations and follow-ups are tracked per relationship.
Client IC preparation
Creates client-specific briefs from shared research, recent manager signals, open obligations, prior IC questions, and client-specific decision history.
Decision record
Captures the firm view and the client-specific reasoning at each recommendation - critical for fiduciary consistency across similar clients.
Audit and records bundles
Client-specific document and decision bundles for client auditors, regulators, or internal compliance review.
Example fields and workflows tracked
- Firm-level manager rating and rating change history
- Client-by-client recommendations and commitments per approved manager
- Client-specific side letter terms and MFN elections
- Research-to-client distribution log (who was informed, when, action taken)
- Reasoning when similar clients receive different recommendations
- PM onboarding briefing per client relationship
- Capacity allocation log across clients
Common questions
We already use eVestment and a CRM.
eVestment is a screening database; your CRM tracks contacts. Allocator Desk is the operational layer linking research, client-specific decisions, obligations, and follow-ups.
Our research team has its own system.
Research systems rarely survive contact with client-specific recommendations. Allocator Desk is the bridge between the firm view and what each client actually heard and decided.
Does this replace performance reporting or portfolio accounting?
No. Allocator Desk sits beside those systems. It preserves the research, decision, obligation, and client-specific context behind each manager recommendation and commitment.