Approach
From an ad-hoc process to a built, stable operation.
Every engagement runs the same three fixed-scope phases — Understand, Simplify, Automate. Each has defined inputs, deliverables, and an objective test that says it's finished — which is what makes the work fixed-scope and fixed-fee rather than open-ended consulting.
Understand
Purpose — Build a complete, evidence-based picture of how alternatives actually move through your firm today — then find, quantify, and rank where that current state costs time, money, or risk, so you know exactly what to fix first.
Key activities
- Structured interviews with each role that touches alts — advisor, operations, compliance, and key custodian/sponsor contacts.
- Walk through one or two recent live transactions, step by step, as they truly happened.
- Inventory every system in the path — CRM, custodian portals, subscription-doc tooling, investor portal, e-sign, spreadsheets — and collect the real artifacts: sub-docs, suitability/accreditation paperwork, checklists, templates.
- Draft the current-state process map and data-flow diagram across systems.
- Score the current state against the USA Alts reference model and run a compliance and controls review — suitability, accreditation, custodial SLAs, recordkeeping.
- Analyse cycle time and bottlenecks — where transactions stall, rework, or depend on one person — and root-cause each material finding.
- Plot findings by severity against effort to fix.
Deliverables
- Current-state process map (swimlane by role) & systems/data inventory
- Catalogued artifact library of your real documents
- Gap assessment scorecard (domain-by-domain rating)
- Prioritized findings register (severity × effort) & risk/compliance summary
- Recommended scope for the core engagement and modules
*The stabilization window inside Automate runs concurrently with your first live transactions, so calendar time depends on deal flow. Core engagement total: roughly 10–14 weeks of build plus the stabilization window.
How we work
Six commitments that hold across every engagement.
We build, not advise
Deliverables are configured systems, written SOPs, and running workflows — not slide decks of recommendations you implement alone.
Fixed scope, fixed fee
Every phase has explicit deliverables and exit criteria agreed up front. No hourly drift, no scope creep.
Evidence over opinion
We map and diagnose from real transactions, systems, and artifacts before proposing any change. The current-state map is signed off before redesign begins.
Documentation is a deliverable
If it isn't written down and handed over, it isn't done. You must be able to run the operation without us.
Modular by asset class
The core is standard; DST/1031, REIT, and PE workflows attach as modules. Adding an asset class is an add-on, not a re-engagement.
Stay through live deals
We don't hand over at go-live. We stabilize through your first real transactions on the new system before signing off.