From Investment Manager to Select: what trustees can expect

Insights

A practical guide to the five-stage Select client lifecycle, from objectives evaluation through to first review meeting, and what the trustee and beneficiaries should expect to see along the way

4 mins

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The Select Experience Select Connect

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Author

Tom Wiseman

CEO

Tom is the Chief Executive Officer of Enhance Group overseeing our multi-jurisdictional Monitor and Select solutions from our Jersey headquarters.

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Once the strategic case for Select is made, the practical question is how the move happens. This article walks through the five-stage Select onboarding journey: Objectives evaluation, Investment policy, Manager selection, Portfolio structuring, and Review meetings. It also covers the in-specie transfer of existing assets where relevant, the timeline a trustee should expect, and how the Investment Consultant manages out-of-market risk during transition.

Why the move matters, and what trustees commonly worry about

Trustees who have decided that Select is the right answer for their beneficiaries often pause at the practical question of how to make the move. The pause is reasonable: transitions involve real operational risk, out-of-market periods, transaction costs, tax events, and the disruption of established relationships. The fear is not of the destination; it is of the journey. The five client lifecycle stages below are not cosmetic milestones. Each carries specific work, deliverables and decision points for the trustee. Together they form a documented governance trail. That trail satisfies the trustee’s ongoing fiduciary duty just as much as it manages the operational mechanics of the transition. A typical onboarding takes between one and two months, from the start of stage 01 to the conclusion of stage 04, depending on the complexity of the trustee’s arrangements.

The Investment Consultant conducts a working session, not a fact-find. It covers what each portfolio is for, who its beneficiaries are, and what return it needs to generate. It also covers what risk tolerance is appropriate, what tax position applies, and which existing manager relationships should be considered for retention versus transition. The deliverable is a written objectives summary the trustee can take to its board for ratification, typically over two to four working sessions. The trustee’s decision point is whether the summary accurately captures its position before proceeding.

The objectives summary is formalised into a written investment policy statement, the document that will guide every subsequent investment decision and against which performance will be measured. Drafting is a collaborative exercise. Initial drafts are reviewed in working sessions. The final version is a document the trustee’s board and any beneficiaries are comfortable being held accountable to. The trustee’s decision point is signing the IPS, the contract of accountability between trustee, Investment Consultant and Investment Committee.

The Investment Consultant takes the signed IPS and selects funds from the IC-approved universe to construct a matching portfolio. This includes preparing a recommendation with the rationale for each fund: why this fund, why now, why this allocation. The recommendation is presented for trustee review and approval. The trustee’s decision point is explicit approval of every individual fund recommendation, not en bloc, as a documented set of decisions the board can stand behind.

Once approved, Enhance executes the recommendations on the private banking platform integrated with Connect. Where existing positions can be transferred in-specie, they are, to minimise transaction costs and out-of-market exposure. Where positions must be sold and reinvested instead, the Investment Consultant works with the trustee on timing and sequencing to manage transition risk. The deliverable is the implemented portfolio reflected in Connect. The trustee’s decision points are any pivots in execution timing the Investment Consultant raises for approval.

Once implemented, the engagement enters its ongoing rhythm: regular review meetings supported by quarterly Monitor reviews delivered through Connect. These typically begin within the first quarter and continue on a schedule agreed with the trustee. Meetings cover performance against the IPS, any 5P-driven changes to the fund universe, and any changes in circumstances that may warrant an IPS refresh. As conditions change, the cycle starts again; the discipline is continuous, not episodic.

Managing out-of-market risk during transition

Out-of-market exposure is the most concrete operational risk in any transition. If a portfolio is sold and reinvested over a short period during which markets move materially, the trustee bears that gap. The Investment Consultant’s job during portfolio structuring is to minimise that exposure where possible. This means staggering executions where appropriate, taking advantage of natural liquidity events, and considering tax-relevant timing where the trustee’s professional advisers have flagged it. It also means making sure the trustee understands the trade-offs where the exposure cannot be wholly avoided. Where existing positions can be transferred in-specie rather than sold and repurchased, that route is used by default, since it removes the out-of-market gap and the associated transaction costs entirely. Not every position qualifies, however. Restricted stock, illiquid holdings, and positions the platform partner cannot accept in-specie will still need to be sold and reinvested. The Investment Consultant sets the trustee’s expectations on this at the outset of stage 04, rather than leaving it to be discovered during execution.

What the trustee’s board and beneficiaries should see

The trustee’s board, Investment Committee and beneficiaries are entitled to see a documented, evidenced governance trail at each stage. That trail runs from the written objectives summary after stage 01, to the signed IPS after stage 02, to the trustee-approved portfolio recommendation with rationale after stage 03. It continues with the implemented portfolio in Connect, with the transition itself documented as a governance event, after stage 04, and the regular Monitor reviews and review-meeting outputs after stage 05. Each is a deliverable the trustee’s board can include in its own governance reporting. Together they satisfy the duty to take proper advice, the duty to review investments, and the documentation requirements of the trustee’s broader fiduciary obligations.

The bottom line

The move from a traditional investment management arrangement to Select is a managed transition, not a leap of faith. The five-stage journey is structured to produce a documented governance trail at each stage, and to manage the operational mechanics, in-specie transfers, transition timing, tax-relevant sequencing, responsibly. The destination is a different kind of investment governance arrangement. The journey is a managed sequence of approvals, deliverables and documented decisions.

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