Fiduciary Management Evaluation and Oversight

What is fiduciary management?
Fiduciary management (also known as fiduciary investment management or fiduciary asset management) is a comprehensive service where a specialist Fiduciary Manager takes responsibility for implementing and managing a pension scheme's investment strategy. This includes selecting and monitoring investment managers, rebalancing assets, and making tactical or dynamic decisions within agreed parameters. While Trustees delegate day-to-day investment decisions, they retain overall responsibility for the scheme and must ensure the Fiduciary Manager continues to deliver appropriate strategy and value.

What is the difference between fiduciary management and OCIO?
Fiduciary management and Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) are both delegation approaches used by institutional investors to manage their investments, but the level of delegation may differ. 

The choice between fiduciary management and OCIO depends on your goals, governance structure and preferences. In practice there is a spectrum between fully delegated fiduciary management, moving into more flexible fiduciary management and then to OCIO, with a correlation to the size and resources of the organisation. Quantum Advisory supports Trustee Boards to carefully evaluate both models and set their bespoke governance structure before tendering for a provider.

What are the regulatory requirements for a Fiduciary Management or OCIO tender?
The CMA order, now under the remit of the The Pensions Regulator (TPR), requires a Trustee Board to carry out a competitive tender for fiduciary management appointments. Furthermore, running a tender exercise is part of good governance. It can enable you to get value for money from service providers and help you understand the range of models and services available in the market better with a view to selecting a provider that is more likely to meet your scheme’s needs and objectives. We offer full project management support for tender exercises, ensuring that all regulatory requirements are met and documented.

Why do schemes need independent fiduciary management oversight?
Trustees cannot delegate their responsibility even when they delegate decisions. Independent oversight provides objective evaluation of your Fiduciary Manager's strategy implementation, performance, fees, and service quality against the wider market. This ensures the arrangement remains fit for purpose, delivers value for money, and continues to align with your scheme's evolving objectives  giving Trustees confidence they are meeting their fiduciary duties.

How does Quantum Advisory's approach differ from other providers?
Our independence and specialist focus set us apart. We dedicate ourselves exclusively to selection, evaluation and oversight - we don't offer fiduciary management services ourselves, so there's no conflict of interest or mission creep. Our team combines experience from both sides: independent oversight and practical asset management. This gives us unique insight into what good looks like. We're also set up to serve schemes of all sizes with a personal, flexible approach, providing big-name expertise on a first-name basis without the rigidity of larger consultancies.

What does a typical oversight engagement involve?
Our oversight service typically includes annual independent reviews of your Fiduciary Manager's investment strategy alignment, performance attribution, operational capabilities, and fee competitiveness. We use unbiased performance measurement standards and benchmark against the wider fiduciary management market. We provide clear, actionable recommendations to Trustees, attend meetings as required, and maintain ongoing dialogue to address issues as they arise. The scope is always tailored to your specific needs  you get everything you need – and nothing you don't.