Practice Areas - Investment Consulting
Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting, a division of Watson Wyatt, is focused on creating financial value for institutional investors through independent, best-in-class investment advice. We are specialist investment professionals who provide co-ordinated investment strategy advice based on expertise in risk assessment, strategic asset allocation, and investment manager selection. Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting provides investment advice to some of the world’s largest pension funds and institutional investors, and has more than 300 associates in Europe, the Americas and Asia.
Our key teams
Our specialist teams are ‘Investment Strategy’, ‘Manager Research’ and ‘Thinking Ahead’, our thought leadership and research group. Each of these specialist teams provides deep expertise to our general consulting teams and to their clients.
Investment Strategy
Determining investment strategy is probably the most important decision for any institutional investor. Our strategy team of some 25 professionals is world class. We were pioneers in asset liability modelling since the early 1980s and have remained at the cutting edge since then. We have a specialist structured products team who advise clients on derivatives, swaps and other structured products. We believe they are market leaders in the number of transactions and the number of clients they advise in this regard.
Manager Research
Our work is built on a foundation of top quality research. In our manager research we aim to identify managers with the potential to perform well in the future and who can add value to our clients’ funds. We believe that ‘soft’ factors, such as the quality of the investment team and the investment process, are better indicators of future performance than ‘hard’ facts such as past performance. For this reason our research focuses on the quality of every investment decision taken by managers. Our Global Manager Selection Group ensures that there is consistency in our approach to manager research around the world and that our investment research is applied on a consistent global basis. All research is carried out at a local level and then communicated, via our three main regional bases, to the global firm.
Thinking Ahead Group (TAG)
Innovation and research are at the heart of what we do. We believe that our passion for research and our commitment to delivering leading-edge thinking for our clients’ pension arrangements is a true differentiator and value-add. TAG is a forward-looking research and creative thinking group which
aims to identify and refine new thinking within pension fund investment. Each of our clients receives our latest ideas through thought-pieces, web casts, conferences, seminars and round table dinners.
General Consulting
Most consultants in the group work in general consulting teams, each advising a portfolio of clients on their investment strategy. Consultants also carry out - to a greater or lesser degree - research into investment management organisations. Assignments can be on a country-specific or multinational basis, with an increasing number of consultants moving around our global network on a temporary or permanent basis.
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