Job Title: Senior Analyst
Location: Cambridge, MA
Submitted on: 10-Nov-03
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Job Title |
Business Outlook
Survey |
| Senior Analyst |
The future looks strong. In the past 12 - 18 months, client number and
assets have grown greatly. NEPC has added personnel at a time when many
other investment firms have reduced headcounts. As more pension plans
and institutional clients realized S&P 500 returns of 20% are not going
to happen every year going forward, they seek outside help through
consultants. Therefore, the consulting industry tends to be counter-
cyclical.
The main competitors for foundations/endowments is Cambridge
Associates. Cambridge has more dedicated research assets, but tends to
score poorly with clients in terms of client services.
The main competition in Taft-Hartley is Marco and Makita. Marco has
very limited resources dedicated to alternative assets, though Makita
has been progressive with their use (especially in the Taft-Hartly
marketplace). NEPC has recently been winning more Taft Hartley mandates.
In corporate plans, full-service firms like Wilshire, Frank Russell and
others tend to dominate. However, in this year's plan sponsor, NEPC
ranked near the top for consultants.
However, it is not flawless. Sometimes, resources are stretched thin
and there can be problems in the process. There may be some morale
issues at the lower end of the totem-pole, and there is a bit of a
divide between "old NEPC"--those who were around in the early years
following its founding in the late 80s, and the "new NEPC" personnel who
have only been around for a few years and may not buy in to the NEPC way
of doing things and the "this is the way we've always done it" arguments
advanced by old NEPC.
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