Investment committees do not need a comprehensive questionnaire for its own sake. They need a process that concentrates attention on the few topics that actually move a selection decision, while clearing operational and legal issues before a contract is signed.
- 01
Start with the relationship, not the firm biography
The most consequential question in an investment search is often the least glamorous: what authority is the committee actually delegating? A well-drafted RFP establishes the proposed role, discretion, fiduciary acknowledgement, meeting participation, and documentation expectations before it asks a firm to describe itself.
That sequence prevents a common mismatch: a committee expects an active decision-making partner, while the selected firm expects only to provide recommendations or reporting.
- 02
Make total cost comparable
A headline advisory fee is not a total cost. Ask every respondent to quote the same portfolio, state an all-in annual dollar amount, show the calculation, and disclose manager expenses, custody, trading, platform, reporting, and other third-party charges.
Then normalize the responses yourself into effective basis points on a common asset level. A structured fee schedule with breakpoints, minimums, and inclusions makes this possible; prose alone does not.
- 03
Ask for evidence, not assurances
Descriptions converge quickly in a finalist process. Artifacts show how a firm actually operates. Request the current Form ADV, a sample reporting package, manager hire and termination history, conflicts policy, audit reports, insurance details, and the standard service agreement.
Evidence also reduces committee follow-up and gives counsel, finance staff, and auditors a record they can review directly.
- 04
Separate decision factors from diligence thresholds
Not every answer should carry equal weight. The questions that determine the relationship, economics, investment process, and manager research should drive the search. Reporting, service, stability, and institution-specific capability help distinguish credible finalists. Operational, legal, and contract questions screen for disqualifying problems.
This prevents a responsive, polished proposal from winning because it performs well on secondary details while leaving core fit or cost unclear.
- 05
Use narrative only where judgment is necessary
Use structured responses for facts: service model, fee breakpoints, reporting timing, portfolio characteristics, and required documents. Reserve open narrative for questions that require reasoning, such as investment philosophy, risk management, transition planning, and institutional experience.
The goal is not to flatten every answer into a score. It is to make comparable facts easy to inspect so the committee can spend its time on judgment.
- 06
Draft the exit before you need it
Termination notice, transfer fees, data export, portal access, successor cooperation, arbitration, liability limits, and indemnification are easy to overlook in an RFP. They become expensive when a committee tries to change advisors.
Request the standard agreement during the search and ask respondents to identify non-negotiable terms. It makes contract review a deliberate part of selection rather than a last-minute surprise.
The RFP Free question framework
Sixty-two fixed questions, the same in every search.
Every RFP Free investment search begins with the same fixed questionnaire. The wording stays consistent across firms so committees can compare answers directly; a short custom block captures the facts unique to the institution and mandate.
Relationship, economics & process
These questions test whether the proposed relationship, economics, and investment process genuinely fit the committee's mandate.
- Role, discretion & fiduciary status
- Fees & total cost
- Conflicts of interest & sources of revenue
- Investment philosophy, asset allocation & risk
- Manager research & selection
Service, reporting & experience
These questions show how the relationship will work in practice and whether the firm has relevant experience to support it.
- Performance measurement & reporting
- Team & service model
- Firm stability & track record
- Institution-specific capability
Operations, legal & contract
These are rapid, mostly pass-or-fail checks. A failure here should end the conversation regardless of strength elsewhere.
- Operational controls & security
- Regulatory & legal history
- Contract terms & exit
Ready to turn your priorities into a draft RFP?
Start with a guided intake. You control the framing and custom questions; RFP Free supplies the fixed comparison spine.