Institutional Research & Reporting

Institutional Research

Heck Capital provides institutional research and reporting services for:

Heck Capital’s consultants and analysts, along with our Investment Committee, utilize a proprietary methodology to conduct a screening process to help identify mutual funds / managers. The process begins by screening hundreds of thousands of investment options.

Managers Screened

12,800+

Total Funds Screened

210,400+

Here’s how we begin our research process:

Mutual Fund and ETF Filtering

After filtering out the top mutual funds and exchange traded funds, we review a thorough analysis of quantitative and qualitative data to select and monitor top ranked managers for consistency, tenure, rankings vs. the index and peer-group, and risk / return comparisons.

Scoring Process

Mutual funds and ETFs are reviewed in traditional and alternative asset classes, while active and passive investment strategies are scrutinized for distinct and competitive advantages. Based on our filtering and scoring criteria, we select the most appropriate funds in each category.

After identifying the top funds from the investment universe using our proprietary filter and scoring system, we provide our research recommendations to our institutional clients. These recommendations are made with consideration to the Plan’s Investment Policy Statement, current and future income needs, Plan structure, and objectives. We believe in our process and we provide our research and reporting services to multiple successful institutions across the country.

Our research and analysis is rooted in consistency, quality, risk, and performance.

Institutional Reporting

Heck Capital offers several reporting solutions that directly complement our research process.

Here are the investment reporting services we provide our clients:

Performance reporting
Asset allocation overview
Style analysis and risk/return measures
Reporting of on-going manager and fund due diligence
Watch list monitoring and documentation

Service provider benchmarking
Independent studies and analysis
Full access to Morningstar database
Detailed cost analysis

Additional Resources & Services

Above and beyond our institutional research and reporting offerings, we provide a plethora of value-add resources and services to assist our institutional clients. Here are additional ways in which we can add value:

Assistance with Investment Policy Statement (IPS) creation and on-going reviews
State-of-the-art performance tracking with access to multiple custodian data feeds
Watch list monitoring and documentation
Ability to complete RFPs/RFIs
Vendor searches
Plan design
Meeting minutes and working with recordkeeping companies

Case Study

Client Challenges & Opportunities

A Plan Sponsor was struggling with the level of service their current representative was providing for their company’s 401(k) Plan. Seeking additional services, including recommendations to benchmark their record-keeping / custodian fees, the Plan Sponsor contacted Heck Capital.

Heck Capital recommended the Plan Sponsor needed to implement a blind RFI (Request For Information) for record-keeping / custodian services.
With this specific Plan Sponsor, the participants were bearing the costs of the Plan's services, which were layered on the expense ratios of the individual investment options net of any revenue sharing credited back.
In the current set up, the Plan participants were paying for an additional advisor who was to provide assistance to Plan participants but wasn’t registered to provide financial advice on asset allocation or investment selection.
Annual record-keeping / custodian fees were substantially higher than the industry average.

Solutions

Heck Capital collected plan data from the current record-keeper / custodian, and reviewed and identified the different features of the Plan along with all associated costs. It is important to identify how the Plan and its participants are paying for the services in order to effectively implement the blind RFI.
Blind RFI was conducted and three additional record-keepers / custodians provided responses and benchmarking for the Plan Sponsor.
As a secondary benefit, Heck Capital also reviewed the investment menu and provided suggestions for improvement.

Results

Throughout the blind RFI and consulting process Heck Capital developed a relationship with the current representative. We maintained our relationship after the RFI process, to negotiate, on behalf of the Plan Sponsor. Negotiations included: an annual fee reduction of 0.50% and lowered costs on select investment options offered to the Plan and its participants.
The Plan Sponsor implemented our recommendations which resulted in an overall more efficient Plan for the Plan Sponsor.

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