Kirton adds: “What we’re not trying to do is be factional and turn Mercer from a global investment consulting business into a series of individual businesses that don’t talk to each other.” While access to specialists is important, there are obvious pitfalls in the multi-consultant model. One is the cost to the super fund of using more than one adviser, particularly where the asset class the advice relates to makes up only a small portion of the overall portfolio.
Where funds are using more than one consultant, Marshman
says there needs to be clear and tightly monitored boundaries. “There are real
traps where multiple consultants are concerned and there needs to be clear
understanding of accountabilities and responsibilities where you have more than
one adviser, as the risks are tripping over other people’s work and lack of
clear accountability,” he says. “It can work, but it requires a fair bit of
very clear management by the funds in question.”
