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Institutional Asset Management
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High-stakes financial decisions requiring trust, structured diligence, and coordinated stakeholders.
Fidelity
Vanguard
T. Rowe Price
American Funds
Inside this journey
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Pre-Discovery
Align the room on outcomes, decision process, and constraints before deeper discovery.
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Stakeholder Alignment
Confirm decision-makers, fiduciary responsibilities (e.g., ERISA), timeline, and what ‘good’ looks like for advisors, home offices, and plan committees.
Alignment Questions
Start: How You Currently Choose Funds
- How do you typically identify a candidate fund to add to an advisor model or plan lineup?
- Walk me through one recent fund addition from first mention to final approval—who spoke up, what evidence mattered most, and how long did it take?
- Which people or committees must sign off before a fund goes live for advisors or a plan?
- How frequently do you refresh your eligible fund shelf or model lineups?
- What are the three non-negotiable quantitative checks you run before serious diligence (select up to 3)?
- Who on your team owns day-to-day monitoring versus strategic shelf decisions, and how does that split feel to you?
Are We Sure About What ‘Good’ Really Means?
- When you say a fund is 'good enough' for advisors or a plan committee, what trade-offs are you most willing to accept?
- Which of these success signals matters most to you when choosing a fund for advisor models or plan menus?
- How do you weigh qualitative factors (manager succession plan, firm stability, team culture) against quantitative screens?
- Describe a recent place where your 'good enough' bar failed you—how did it feel to the team and to advisors or committee members?
- How often do you need to present different 'good' definitions to different audiences (RIA models vs broker-dealer shelf vs ERISA committees)?
- If we could demonstrate one hard proof-point to satisfy your definition of 'good' for advisors and plan committees, what would it be?
Where Things Break — The Ugly Truth Most Teams Avoid
- What is the single most common failure mode you’ve seen with funds moving from approval to live—for example, style drift, manager change, unanticipated redemption waves, or custody gaps?
- How many times in the past 24 months have you had to remove a fund due to one of these failure modes?
- Which monitoring signals would make you escalate a fund to the product or committee team immediately?
- When a failure happens, how do you communicate it to advisors and plan committees—and how does that communication usually land?
- Thinking about the last surprise removal or major issue: how long did it take you to recover client trust or re-stabilize platform usage?
- What internal process or culture gap do you suspect contributes most to these breakdowns?
If Everything Went Right — What Would Success Look Like?
- If fiduciary, custody, and advisor adoption barriers were removed, what three measurable outcomes would you insist on to call the program a success in 12 months?
- Be specific: what numeric targets would make you comfortable (e.g., % adoption, AUM flows, net-of-fee outperformance)?
- How would advisors describe a positive experience working with a new fund provider on your platform?
- What would make plan committees say a new share class or fund is worth keeping on the menu for the long run?
- Which of these outcomes would change your personal willingness to champion a fund provider internally?
- How would you want success learnings captured and shared across advisors, home office, and product teams?
What’s Standing Between Today and That Win?
- What's the single internal or external blocker that would stop this from happening in the next 6–12 months (people, platform, regulatory, or commercial)?
- Which custodians or recordkeepers, if missing, would make a provider non-starter for meaningful shelf access?
- How constrained are you by share-class availability today (R-shares, institutional, advisory classes)?
- What operational hand-offs have failed before—model file formats, cadence, transfer-agent linkups, or reporting feeds—and how long to fix when they break?
- Who needs to be visibly aligned inside your org for a new provider to proceed, and how do you assess their appetite or bandwidth?
- If we could eliminate one of these barriers for you today, which would you choose and why?
Put Us in the Room: What Would We Need to Prove?
- If we joined your next model committee or plan meeting, what 3 things would you expect us to demonstrate in the first 10 minutes to keep you interested?
- Which materials or live tests would carry the most weight (e.g., sample model files, custody proof, ERISA memo, performance attribution)?
- Which model platforms and file formats must we support to be usable by your advisors (Envestnet, Orion, Tamarac, Black Diamond, other)?
- What minimum timeline do you expect for platform listing once technical readiness is confirmed?
- Which pilot features or protections would make advisors comfortable testing new funds (e.g., model-only availability, limited share class, guaranteed onboarding support)?
- Who on your side would coordinate the technical onboarding, and how much time can they allocate in their first 90 days?
Agreeing Next Steps — Low-Risk Pilots and Measurable Commitments
- What would a successful pilot look like to you—length, minimum advisor adoption, and performance or reporting thresholds?
- Which pilot length would your committee consider sufficient to form an opinion?
- What minimum advisor-level adoption percentage or number of model integrations would you set to consider a pilot worthy of scaling?
- Which support elements would you require from the provider during pilot (check all that apply)?
- What commercial concessions, if any, would make the committee more willing to trial a new share class or fund?
- Who will be the internal decision owner for moving from pilot to full shelf placement, and what criteria will they use?
- Realistically, when could you commit to a pilot start date if all technical and compliance items are addressed?
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Current State Mapping
Document today’s fund selection and shelf processes, custodial/recordkeeper coverage, model portfolio constraints, and past failure modes like style drift or manager changes.
Current State
Quick Snapshot: Where You Stand Right Now
- In two sentences, how would you describe your current fund shelf and model coverage today?
- Which of these best describes where most of your assets live?
- Roughly how many distinct mutual fund/ETF products are on active advisor-facing shelves you support?
- Who formally owns the shelf and model governance in your organization?
- How often do you run a scheduled shelf or model review?
Why These Funds Still Live Here
- What’s the real reason funds remain on your shelf — institutional habit, contractual frictions, or true conviction that they’ll outperform?
- Who in your org would rally to remove a fund if it failed a review — and who would push back? Please name roles or teams.
- When a fund is proposed for removal, what are the top three blockers that usually prevent action?
- How long have you accepted the current shelf as “good enough”?
- If you had to pick one internal process that most reinforces the status quo, what is it and why?
Small Signals, Big Consequences
- When small warning signs appear — style drift, manager turnover, or shrinking AUM — how long do they typically go unaddressed?
- What monitoring signals do you trust most to catch trouble early (quant metrics, manager meetings, rep feedback, client outflows)? Select all that apply.
- Give a concrete example of a small issue you missed that became a major problem. What was the first sign, and how long before someone acted?
- What’s your tolerance window — how many months of underperformance or deviation before a formal review is triggered?
- Who receives automated alerts today, and how often do those alerts lead to human follow-up?
When Things Break: Stories That Still Hurt
- Tell us about a fund or manager change that damaged advisor trust or led to lost business—what happened and why did it stick with people?
- How did the organization communicate during that event—and what reaction did you see from advisors or plan sponsors?
- Looking back, what signals in the data or interactions could have surfaced the problem earlier? How long had those signals existed?
- What remediation steps did you take, and which felt effective versus performative?
- How emotionally or financially costly was that incident (advisor churn, plan removal, client complaints)?
Red Lines: What Would Make You Say No Instantly
- If a fund immediately violated one requirement, which single criterion would force an immediate shelf removal?
- Which of these screens do you run as hard stops for plan-level/ERISA decisions? (pick all that apply)
- Which pass/fail thresholds are negotiable with additional disclosure or contractual protections? Please explain which and why.
- How do you document and archive the rationale when you make an exception to a hard stop?
- Who signs final approval for exceptions (role/title)?
Model Mechanics: Fit, Friction, and Fragile Assumptions
- Do your models bend to fit the available funds, or do you replace funds when models demand it?
- List the top constraints that limit what can be used in a model (share class availability, trading windows, minimum investments, tax treatment, reporting).
- How often are model file refreshes pushed to platforms and who owns that delivery?
- Describe a recent time a fund’s share-class or trading constraint forced a model change—what happened and how disruptive was it?
- What acceptance criteria do you require for a fund to be included in a model (e.g., liquidity, tracking error limits)? Please list thresholds where applicable.
Platform & Custodial Reality Check: What’s Truly Available?
- How often does platform availability — not product merit — dictate advisor choices on investments?
- Which custodians and recordkeepers must our funds be on to be considered viable for your advisors or plans? (select all that apply)
- Which share classes are mandatory for advisory platforms versus retirement plans (R, R6, I, A, ETF)?
- How long does it typically take to get a new share class or fund listed on priority custodians/recordkeepers for your group?
- Tell us about a time a missing platform listing prevented advisor adoption—what was the outcome and lesson learned?
Operations & Data: The Invisible Risk Layer
- Could a gap in feeds, model ingestion, or transfer-agent connectivity derail a launch even if the product is approved?
- Which operational integrations do you consider mission-critical before listing (pick all that apply)?
- Who in your organization is the day-to-day owner for troubleshooting integration issues (role/title)?
- How do you validate a new fund’s data before rolling it out to advisors or models? Walk us through your pre-launch checklist.
- How often have data or operational failures caused incorrect advisor-facing information (fees, holdings, performance)?
Adoption & Support: The Soft Power That Wins Shelves
- If advisors had to choose between a modestly better-performing fund with no support and a slightly worse fund with proactive wholesaler support, which usually wins in your channels?
- Which distribution supports move the needle most for your advisors (select up to three)?
- Share a recent example where effective wholesaler/enablement materially increased adoption—what were the components that mattered?
- What adoption barriers do advisors cite most often (reporting gaps, lack of model support, custody blocks, unfamiliar managers)?
- How do you measure successful adoption for a newly added fund (AUM growth, advisor placements, model inclusions, usage rate)?
Governance Rhythm: Who Decides and How Fast?
- When a shelf decision needs to be made, what’s your fastest realistic timeline from discovery to final decision?
- Which stakeholders are required for final approval on fund additions/removals (pick all that apply)?
- What information pack do decision-makers expect when voting on a shelf change (performance deck, operational DD, legal memo, custodian status)?
- Describe one governance decision in the last year that surprised you—what made it unexpected?
- Would a single cross-functional owner for shelf decisions improve speed and accountability? Explain how long that’s been discussed.
If You Could Rebuild the Shelf From Scratch
- Imagine you could rebuild your shelf with no constraints — what would the top three non-negotiables be?
- Which metrics would you require in the first 12 months to keep a product on that rebuilt shelf?
- How would your process for manager communication, transparency, and education look different in a rebuilt approach?
- What single vendor or internal capability would you invest in first to make a rebuilt shelf work?
- What concerns would keep you from rebuilding the shelf even if the resources were available?
A Practical Pilot: How Would You Prove It?
- If you ran a 90-day pilot for a candidate fund, what single metric would make you confident it should stay on the shelf?
- What sample of advisors or plans would you include in a pilot to get representative results?
- What reporting cadence and dashboard elements would you need to evaluate the pilot effectively?
- Who has final sign-off authority to graduate a pilot to full shelf inclusion (role/title)?
- How long would you accept a drag on short-term performance during a pilot before deciding it's not a fit?
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Outcome Discovery
Define target outcomes, measurable success signals (performance, fees, adoption), and mandatory screens for due diligence and fiduciary compliance.
Discovery Questions
A quick snapshot — who’s in the room?
- Tell me which of the following best describes the people who will be deciding on fund shelf placement and usage.
- How many distinct stakeholders (advisors, home office reviewers, compliance, plan fiduciaries) are typically involved in a single acceptance decision?
- Describe in a sentence the primary outcome each stakeholder group is seeking (e.g., lower fees for plans, model stability for advisors, operational simplicity for home office).
- What is your typical timeline from first conversation to shelf approval and visible platform listing?
If nothing changes, what stays broken?
- Which deeply held assumption about your current fund lineup would you be most surprised to see challenged?
- What recurring problems have you learned to live with when evaluating new funds (e.g., lack of manager tenure transparency, inconsistent reporting, share-class confusion)?
- When a fund experiences style drift or a manager change, what immediate actions do you take and who feels the impact most?
- How long have these tolerance points persisted before you’ve historically made a change (weeks, months, years)?
Redlines that stop deals — the compliance pulse
- What single compliance or fiduciary requirement has most often blocked a fund from being accepted?
- Which ERISA or plan-level documents do you always require before proceeding (select all that apply)?
- How do you prefer to validate custodial/recordkeeper coverage: paperwork, platform screenshots, sandbox access, or custodian confirmation calls?
- What evidence—specific reports, audit items, or vendor commitments—would make your fiduciary committee feel comfortable?
- When a fund is borderline (strong performance but operational questions), which side usually wins and why?
Do fees and performance actually change minds?
- Which would move the needle more for your decision-makers today: a meaningful fee reduction, demonstrable risk-adjusted outperformance, or better alignment to advisor models?
- What performance time horizons do your advisors and committees weight most heavily (select up to two)?
- How do you define ‘good’ performance for each channel—absolute returns, peer quartile, downside capture, or client outcome measures?
- Share a concrete example of a time when fees directly tipped a decision one way or another—what happened and why?
Will advisors actually use this, or will it collect dust?
- If the funds were live on every platform tomorrow, what is the number-one reason advisors here still might not recommend them?
- Which distribution and platform channels generate the bulk of real advisor adoption for you? (select all that apply)
- Which enablement assets cause advisors to trial a new fund fastest (pick top two)?
- Tell the story of an adoption win: what concrete steps (training, marketing, model placement) led to measurable advisor uptake?
Everything behind the scenes — ops, custody, and data
- What operational or platform surprise has derailed a launch in the past—and what was the real root cause?
- Which custodians and recordkeepers are must-have integrations for you to consider a fund truly available?
- Which share classes do you require across advisory, broker-dealer, and retirement channels for listing consideration?
- How do you prefer model delivery and integration: file upload, API/direct feed, third-party model marketplace, or wholesaler-managed models?
- Which pre-launch tests give you confidence (select all that apply)?
How will we know this worked?
- If you needed proof of value in six months, list up to three metrics that would make this an obvious success for you (be specific about targets if possible).
- Which adoption thresholds would trigger additional support from your side (marketing, model placement, or faster approvals)?
- What minimum reporting cadence and content do you require to feel comfortable continuing the relationship?
- Who should own ongoing performance and operational escalations from your side (role and contact preference)?
Mapping next steps — what would make this easy to approve?
- What single deliverable or assurance would make you comfortable signing off on a pilot or initial shelf inclusion this quarter?
- Which onboarding milestones must be completed before ‘go-live’ for you (select all that apply)?
- Which commercial approach do you prefer for an initial arrangement: standard terms, pilot economics, or a play-or-pay guarantee?
- Realistically, what calendar dates or internal review cycles should we align to for decision checkpoints?
- Who will be our internal champion and the single person we should follow up with (name, role, best contact)?
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Solution Experience
Use the customer’s context and scenarios to show how our fund lineup, model integrations, and distribution support deliver the agreed outcomes and mitigate key risks.
Experience Meetings
- Solution Experience Prep — Confirm Current State & Success Criteria
- Risk & Impact Workshop — Quantify Cost of Status Quo
- Solution Experience — Scenario Walkthrough (Diagnosis → Proof → Validation)
- Distribution & Operational Readiness — Platform Fit Proof
- Validation & Mutual Commit — Acceptance Criteria and Next Steps
- Establish enablement deliverables and reporting cadence required for launch readiness.
- Customer to supply any missing account counts, fee schedules, or plan participant breakdowns.
- Prepare a one‑page impact summary that will be presented at the start of the Solution Experience.
- Opening: Reconfirm Current State, Consequence, Future State
- Demonstrate, via customer data, that the solution achieves the defined future state for each prioritized scenario.
- Force explicit validation from the customer after each scenario to confirm alignment.
- Produce measurable before/after metrics tied to the agreed success signals.
- Identify any gaps that require follow-up work or documentation.
- Seller to deliver scenario artifacts: model mapping spreadsheets, transition workflow, and ERISA documentation samples.
- Customer to validate scenario outcomes and provide written confirmation or requested adjustments.
- Schedule follow-up meeting to finalize acceptance criteria and operational handoffs.
- Recap Target Use Cases and Acceptance Criteria
- Confirm custodial/recordkeeper coverage for targeted platforms and identify any blockers.
- Agree selected share classes for each use case and confirm fee impacts.
- Introductions & Meeting Objectives
- Create a mitigation plan for any identified operational gaps with owners and dates.
- Seller to provide an up-to-date custodial coverage matrix and required paperwork for pending platforms.
- Customer to approve share-class selections or request alternatives within 5 business days.
- Schedule wholesaler training sessions and share initial enablement materials.
- Recap Proofs & Measured Outcomes
- Obtain written acceptance or a prioritized punch list tied to the acceptance criteria.
- Assign clear owners and due dates for all onboarding and compliance tasks.
- Set the timeline and commitments to progress into Solution Scope and Mutual Commit.
- Flag any commercial or service items that need executive review before final commitment.
- Customer to sign or return acceptance criteria with any requested changes within agreed SLA.
- Seller to produce a joint onboarding plan with named owners, milestone dates, and dependencies.
- Schedule Solution Scope and Mutual Commit meetings with required decision-makers.
- Produce and lock the single-sentence current state that will guide the experience.
- Surface and quantify one or more consequences that make the problem urgent.
- Agree a one-sentence future state and 2–3 measurable success signals for validation.
- Confirm data, scenarios, and ownership needed to run the Solution Experience.
- Customer to deliver model files, custodial mappings, and one‑page plan documents required for scenario runs.
- Seller to prepare a scenario plan mapping each demo to the defined success signals.
- Set date/time for the Solution Experience walkthrough and identify attendees.
- Restate Current State & Consequence
- Create a prioritized list of top risks with quantified impacts to make mitigation urgent.
- Agree which quantified metrics the Solution Experience must prove improvement against.
- Identify any missing data or stakeholders needed to finalize impact quantification.
- Seller to run fee and adoption sensitivity models using customer AUM and portfolio mix.
- One‑Sentence Current State
- Map Failure Modes to Impacts
- Confirm Acceptance Criteria per Use Case
- Custodian & Recordkeeper Coverage Matrix
- Scenario A — Model Integration & Rebalancing Proof
- Share Class Mapping & Fee Impact
- Consequence Statement
- Assign Owners & Timelines
- Validation Pause A
- Quantify Financial & Operational Impact
- Scenario B — Fund Transition & Manager Change Mitigation
- Wholesaler & Enablement Proof
- Compliance & ERISA Exposure Assessment
- Commercial & Service Term Checklist Preview
- Define Future State & Success Signals
- Reporting, Data Feeds & Compliance Signoffs
- Data & Scenario Check
- Validation Pause B
- Prioritize Risks for the Solution Experience
- Agree Next Milestones & Signoffs
- Confirm Scenarios and Success Criteria for Demo
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Solution Scope
Define share classes, custody coverage, reporting cadence, wholesaler and enablement deliverables, and acceptance criteria for advisor and plan use cases.
Scope Configuration
- Provide Dedicated Regional Wholesaler Coverage
- Distribute Fund Fact Sheets and Prospectuses
- Deliver Monthly Performance and Attribution Reports
- Supply Model Portfolio Files for Platform Upload
- Deliver ERISA Fee and Plan-Level Documentation
- Offer R-Share and Institutional Share Classes
- Publish Quarterly Manager Commentary and Updates
- Provide Manager Diligence Package and PM Bios
- Deliver Advisor Thought Leadership Briefs
- Host Live Product Webinars and CE Workshops
- Provide Trade Support and NAV Reconciliation
- Supply Advisor Sales Kits and Pitch Decks
- List Share Classes on Major Custodial Platforms
- Deliver Fund Tax Reporting and Year-End Statements
Scope Questions
Provide Dedicated Regional Wholesaler Coverage
- Which coverage model do you require?
- Which regions or states should be prioritized for in-person coverage?
- Which client segments should wholesalers prioritize when planning calls (e.g., independent RIAs, wirehouses, bank channels)?
- What level of onsite engagement do you expect (e.g., advisor meetings, home office due diligence visits, regional conferences)?
- What KPIs should wholesalers be measured on to keep coverage in scope?
- Are there contractual or compliance constraints for wholesaler interactions (e.g., FINRA limitations, restricted lists, gifting policies)? If yes, describe.
Distribute Fund Fact Sheets and Prospectuses
- Which materials are required for distribution (select all that apply)?
- What distribution cadence do you expect for monthly/quarterly fact sheets and prospectuses?
- Which delivery methods are needed for documents?
- Are there templating or co-branding requirements for documents (e.g., firm logos, compliance legends)? If yes, specify.
- Do you need document version control and archival access for audit/compliance purposes?
- Are translations or local regulatory variants required for any markets?
Deliver Monthly Performance and Attribution Reports
- Which report types are required?
- What frequency is needed for performance and attribution reports?
- What formats and delivery channels are preferred for reports?
- Do you require model-level attribution for advisor model portfolios or just fund-level?
- Are there specific benchmarks or peer groups to which performance must be compared?
- Do reports need pre-approval or sign-off by compliance prior to distribution?
Supply Model Portfolio Files for Platform Upload
- Which model file formats are required by your platforms (select all that apply)?
- How often will model files need to be refreshed (rebalancing cadence)?
- Do model files need to include tax-lot instructions, trade logic, or only target weights?
- Which platforms/marketplaces must ingest files (list custodians, TAMPs, and model platforms)?
- Are there validation or test environments for you to verify model ingestion prior to production?
- Do you require change notifications or delta files when model allocations change?
Deliver ERISA Fee and Plan-Level Documentation
- Which ERISA documents do you require?
- Do you need customized plan-level fee benchmarking or templated fee exhibits?
- Which share classes will be used for plan-level comparisons (e.g., R-shares, institutional)?
- Are there specific compliance approvals or legal attestations required for ERISA materials?
- What delivery format and retention requirements exist for plan-level documentation?
- Do you require sample RFP responses or template language for plan committees?
Offer R-Share and Institutional Share Classes
- Which share classes do you want listed and when?
- Are breakpoints, fee waivers, or revenue share details required to be disclosed in the scope?
- Do custodial platforms require separate ISIN/CUSIP or legal paperwork per share class?
- Will you require share-class conversion processes and timelines documented?
- Are there plan- or advisor-specific pricing schedules that need to be negotiated and tracked?
- Please list any regulatory or platform constraints that would block certain share classes.
Publish Quarterly Manager Commentary and Updates
- What level of commentary detail is expected (monthly insights, quarterly deep-dive, portfolio changes)?
- Which formats are needed for commentary distribution?
- Do you require compliance sign-off workflow for manager commentary before release?
- Should commentary include trade-level rationale and upcoming positioning changes?
- Who are the intended recipients for manager commentary (advisors, home office due diligence, plan committees)?
- Are translation, accessibility (e.g., transcripts for audio), or alternative formats required?
Provide Manager Diligence Package and PM Bios
- Which documents must be included in the diligence package?
- Do you require historical track records and pedigree analysis for PMs?
- Are background checks or third-party D&I/ESG assessments required as part of diligence?
- What delivery format is preferred for the diligence package?
- Do you need completed standard due diligence questionnaires (DDQs) and contact details for follow-up?
- Are versioning, update cadence, and notification of manager changes required?
Deliver Advisor Thought Leadership Briefs
- What topics should thought leadership cover (market outlook, model construction, retirement planning)?
- What cadence and format do you want for briefs?
- Do briefs need co-branding or templated versions for advisors to distribute to clients?
- Should content be CE-eligible or rep-focused for business development?
- Do you require distribution metrics (open rates, downloads) for briefs?
- Are there regulatory review or archive requirements for published thought leadership?
Host Live Product Webinars and CE Workshops
- Which audiences should webinars/workshops target?
- What frequency and timing are desired for live events?
- Do events need to be registered for CE credit and by which accrediting bodies?
- What support materials are required for events (slides, handouts, recordings)?
- Would you like regional in-person workshops in addition to virtual webinars?
- Are there preferred platforms or registration systems we must integrate with?
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Mutual Commit
Finalize commercial and service terms, confirm responsibilities for onboarding, ongoing reporting, and support levels that protect shelf placement.
Agreement Modules
- Master Distribution Agreement (MDA)
- Statement of Work (SOW)
- Commercial Terms & Fee Schedule
- Shelf Placement & Platform Access Addendum
- Onboarding Responsibilities Matrix
- Service Level Agreement (SLA)
- Reporting & Data Feed Agreement
- Compliance & ERISA Representations Addendum
- Acceptance Criteria & Launch Sign-off
- Change Order & Amendment Procedure
- Termination & De-Listing Terms
- Dispute Resolution & Escalation Plan
- Renewal & Extension Terms
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Deployment
Operationalize rollout with readiness checks, enablement, and outcome validation.
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Platform & Access Readiness
Confirm custodial/recordkeeper listings, share-class availability, transfer-agent connections, data feeds, and compliance approvals required for launch.
Readiness Questions
Tell Us About Your Practice — Who You Serve and How
- Briefly describe your firm, your role, and the primary client segments you serve (AUM bands, retail vs. retirement vs. institutional).
- Which custodial or recordkeeping platforms do you actively use today? (Select all that apply)
- Which distribution channels are most important for your business right now?
- How would you succinctly describe your firm’s investment philosophy or model construction approach?
- Roughly what percentage of client assets are managed via model portfolios versus bespoke allocations?
- What is one operational headache you wish would simply disappear when adding new funds or models?
Are You Settling for 'Good Enough' on Platform Coverage?
- How much business do you think you are quietly losing because a fund or share class isn’t available on the right custodian or recordkeeper?
- Which custodians or recordkeepers currently create the biggest obstacles for placing funds on client accounts? (Select up to three that most impact you)
- How often do share-class restrictions (advisory-only, retirement-only, platform classes) prevent you from placing a fund where it would otherwise fit?
- When custodial gaps have blocked a placement, what was the typical business impact (lost sale, delayed onboarding, moved to an ETF/competitor)? Please give an example.
- If we could accelerate onboarding to any three platforms for you, which would you prioritize?
How Healthy Is Your Current Fund Shelf — Really?
- When was the last time a manager change, style drift, or fund closure blindsided you—and how did it affect clients or shelf decisions?
- In the past three years, approximately how many funds on your recommended shelf experienced material manager or strategy changes?
- Which fund failure modes have caused you the most trouble when maintaining a shelf?
- How do you currently monitor for manager, style, or operational risks across funds you recommend?
- Tell us about one fund that didn’t live up to expectations—what happened and what specific changes did you make to avoid a repeat?
Who Signs Off — and Are They Comfortable?
- If your compliance team or plan committee had to justify last year’s shelf decisions in a fiduciary review, would they be confident in that defense?
- Who are the stakeholders that must be involved to add a new fund to your shelf? Please list titles/roles and decision responsibilities.
- Do you have an investment committee or a dedicated due-diligence team that signs off on manager selection and operational reviews?
- What specific documentation or screens are mandatory for ERISA/plan-level acceptance in your process (examples: fee benchmarking, operational DD, share-class analysis)?
- Describe a recent shelf approval that took longer than expected—what stalled the decision and how was it resolved?
What Operational Roadblocks Make You Say 'Not Today'?
- What single operational hiccup makes you pull a fund from consideration immediately, even if the strategy otherwise checks the boxes?
- Which onboarding steps have historically caused the most friction for new funds or share classes?
- How do you currently receive and maintain model portfolios in your systems?
- Once model files are delivered, how quickly can your tech/ops team ingest and make them available to advisors?
- What operational service-level agreements (examples: T+1 pricing, nightly model updates, monthly holdings) would materially change your willingness to add a fund?
What Does Success Look Like — For Your Clients and For You?
- If a newly added fund delivered no clear performance lift but doubled advisor engagement and pipeline conversations, would you consider that a success?
- Which success metrics matter most when you evaluate a new fund in the first 6–12 months?
- What realistic adoption or AUM targets within 12 months would make you comfortable keeping a new fund on your shelf?
- How critical is wholesaler support, training, and thought leadership to hitting those targets?
- Describe a piece of manager/wholesaler support that actually moved advisors to adopt a fund—what was it and why did it work?
What Would Winning Integration Actually Take?
- Which single technical or compliance hurdle would stop integration even if every other requirement were met?
- Which data feeds does your platform require to properly display fund information and ingest models?
- Do you require direct transfer-agent connections for reconciliation, or are custodian/aggregator feeds sufficient?
- Which pre-launch tests do you insist on before a fund is visible to advisors (pick all that apply)?
- Who on your team must sign off for launch and who will be the day-to-day owner for integrations (names/roles)?
Ready to Move — Next Steps, Risks, and Everything in Between
- If we proposed a pilot today, what are the top three things that would make you say yes?
- What is your ideal timeline to run a pilot and evaluate results?
- What minimum success criteria would you require to graduate from pilot to full shelf inclusion?
- Which risks about adding a new fund keep you up at night (select all that apply)?
- How would you prefer we communicate during a pilot and ongoing rollout (pick primary and secondary)
- Who should be our single point of contact to coordinate timelines, testing, and final approvals?
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Deployment Enablement
Schedule onboarding tasks, assign owners for platform integrations, wholesaler training, model file delivery, and ERISA documentation handoffs.
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Validation Checklist
Execute pre-launch tests for platform visibility, model ingestion, fee disclosures, trading/access controls, and final compliance sign-offs.
Validation Questions
Start with Who’s In the Room
- Who will be involved in evaluating and approving new funds for your platform (select all that apply)?
- Which single role usually has the final say on shelf placement or removal?
- How would you describe, in one sentence, what 'good' looks like when adding a fund to your shelf?
- Roughly how long does your typical approval cycle take from initial review to shelf live?
- Which platforms/custodians must we be on for this to be meaningful to you (select all that matter)?
- If there’s one thing that tends to create friction during approvals at your organization, what is it?
Are We Just Tolerating Risk?
- What risk do you accept today because changing it feels too expensive or politically difficult?
- Which of these failure modes have you experienced in the last 3 years (select all that apply)?
- When a failure happened, what was the most painful consequence for your stakeholders (choose the main impact)?
- Tell us about a recent example where a fund’s operational or manager issue created extra work for your team — what happened and how long did it take to recover?
- How often do you proactively remove or re‑review funds for reasons other than performance?
- Which signals would immediately trigger a stern review or removal (select top 3)?
How Broken Is Today’s Selection Process, Really?
- What would surprise us about how a fund actually gets on your shelf?
- Which formal screens do you run before approving a fund (select all that apply)?
- Who typically performs the initial quantitative screen and who owns the qualitative validation (choose one for each)?
- Which tools or data sources matter most during your evaluation (rank by importance in order in the text box)?
- How often do custody/recordkeeper availability issues kill or delay a launch for you?
- What is the single biggest bottleneck in turning an approved fund into one advisors actually use?
What Would 'Fiduciary Comfort' Actually Feel Like?
- If an independent fiduciary review happened tomorrow, what documentation or evidence would make you sleep easily?
- Which ERISA / plan‑level requirements are non‑negotiable for your committees (select all that apply)?
- How do you quantify 'acceptable fees'—is it a hard threshold, relative to peers, or negotiated case‑by‑case?
- Who in your organization owns fiduciary documentation and ongoing compliance sign‑offs?
- What evidence of ongoing oversight would move you from ‘monitoring’ to ‘confident’ (examples: reporting cadence, third‑party attestations, PM access)?
Show Me the Adoption — Not Just the Shelf
- What percentage of approved funds on your shelf are actually used in advisor models or plan lineups within 12 months?
- What are the top barriers preventing advisors from using newly added funds (select up to 3)?
- Which distribution supports have the highest impact on adoption for you (choose all that apply)?
- How do you like model files delivered and how quickly must they be available after approval?
- What adoption targets would make you call a launch successful (select primary metric)?
- Describe a past launch that achieved strong adoption—what did the provider do that mattered most?
If We Built Your Ideal Fund Experience, What Changes?
- What one capability from a fund provider would make you change your shelf behavior immediately?
- Which share classes and pricing structures must be available for plan and advisor channels (select all that apply)?
- How frequently do you expect performance and stewardship reporting once a fund is on shelf?
- Which enablement deliverables move the needle for your advisors (select up to 3)?
- Describe any non‑standard custody, transfer agent, or reporting constraints we should know about for your platform(s).
What's the Real Cost of Not Doing This?
- If you delay improving your fund sourcing and enablement for another 12 months, what will be the biggest negative outcome?
- Has lack of shelf innovation ever led an advisor or client to leave your platform? Tell us the story.
- How do you quantify success when a new fund meaningfully improves outcomes for advisors or plans (select all that apply)?
- What internal resources are at risk if a launch requires significant remediation (people, budget, time)?
- How quickly would you expect to pivot or remove a fund that underperforms expectations post‑launch?
Let’s Agree on Next Steps—What Would Make This Easy to Say Yes?
- What is the smallest, low‑risk pilot or proof you would accept to test our fund on your platform?
- Who needs to sign off to run that pilot, and what does their approval look like (people and artifacts)?
- Which of these launch elements must be completed before you’ll list a fund (select all that apply)?
- What timeline feels realistic for pilot → approval → full launch?
- What would be the one clear acceptance criterion you’d use to declare this engagement a success and move to full rollout?
- Who should be our primary point of contact internally to keep momentum and resolve roadblocks?
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Success
Review adoption and performance against success signals, capture learnings, and maintain a shared channel for issues and product enhancements.
Success Reviews
- Client Success Review — Adoption & Performance
- Adoption & Operations Triage
- Product Enhancement Workshop — Learnings to Roadmap
- Wholesaler Enablement & Advisor Feedback Forum
- Governance Kickoff — Shared Channel & SLAs
Issues & Enhancements
- Create a 'quick start' enablement kit (talk track, one‑pager, model file checklist) and distribute within 10 business days.
- Quantify client consequence for each open issue to prioritize fixes appropriately.
- Establish temporary mitigations to protect advisor and plan experience until permanent fixes are implemented.
- Owner to deliver RCA and permanent fix plan in 5 business days for each Severity‑1 issue.
- Operations lead to publish a client-facing status update to the shared channel within 24 hours.
- Escalate unresolved vendor dependencies to vendor account manager and copy client success lead.
- One‑Sentence Current State Recap (Preconditions)
- Convert learnings into a prioritized backlog where each item ties to a success signal.
- Define measurable acceptance criteria for top 3 enhancements to prove the future state.
- Assign owners and realistic timelines for delivery and client communication.
- Product owner to create backlog tickets (with acceptance criteria) for top 5 items and estimate effort within 7 business days.
- Distribution to draft a client communication plan for roadmap items that affect shelf placement or advisor workflows.
- Engineering to produce an impact/effort estimate for each prioritized item for next sprint planning.
- Introductions & Purpose
- Obtain concrete advisor feedback that validates the top adoption barriers.
- Prioritize enablement deliverables and assign owners with clear deadlines.
- Define metrics to measure enablement impact on advisor adoption.
- Opening & Objectives
- Schedule regional training webinars and assign wholesaler owners to each session.
- Track training attendance and subsequent adoption lifts; report at next Success Review.
- Create the shared channel, invite confirmed stakeholders, and publish the SLA document within 48 hours.
- Purpose & Scope of Shared Channel
- Agree a formal shared-channel with documented SLAs and severity definitions tied to client impact.
- Assign channel moderators and clear escalation paths for production and fiduciary-risk issues.
- Establish reporting cadence so performance and adoption metrics are visible to all stakeholders.
- Assign and publish the escalation matrix and channel moderators' contact details.
- Build and distribute the weekly adoption/performance dashboard template for use in the channel.
- Confirm whether adoption and performance meet the predefined success signals and where gaps exist.
- Ensure consequences of gaps are quantified and understood by both sides.
- Agree on owners, timelines, and concrete actions to remediate issues and drive adoption.
- Capture at least three validated learnings to feed product and distribution roadmaps.
- Deliver updated adoption dashboard with trend lines and target variance by next business day.
- Assign remediation owners for top three gaps with deadlines and publish to shared channel.
- Produce a one‑page performance summary tying any underperformance to specific risk events for client review.
- Schedule follow-up checkpoint in 30 days to validate progress against remediation actions.
- Pre‑read Review
- Clear or downgrade all Severity‑1 tickets with assigned owners and timelines within the meeting.
- Consequence Mapping
- Adoption Patterns & Problem Statements
- One‑Sentence Current State
- One‑Sentence Current Channel State (if any)
- Severity‑1 Triage (Blockers)
- SLA Definitions & Severity Tiers
- Adoption Metrics vs Success Signals
- Advisor Case Studies & Live Feedback
- Review Validated Learnings & Data Points
- Root Cause & Consequence
- Temporary Mitigation Plan
- Prioritization Exercise (Impact vs Effort)
- Performance & Risk Review (Attribution)
- Roles, Escalation Matrix & Ownership
- Enablement Gap Brainstorm
- Consequence Discussion
- Define Future State & Acceptance Criteria
- Commit to Training & Collateral Rollout
- Permanent Fix Plan & Owner Assignment
- Reporting Cadence & Dashboards
- Communications & Client Updates
- Roadmap Commitment & Communication Plan
- Open Issues & Escalations