Robin Pellish

In a time when your industry is under more ­scrutiny­ than ever, how do you defend investment ­consultants to your critics? 

As with every industry, there are things that ­investment­­ consultants can and should work to improve. But the reason investment consulting has persisted for this many decades is because there are aspects of these services that investors have found to be of value. Providers—managers, advisors, or administrators—should bring value either in terms of improving returns, reducing risks, and/or streamlining processes. And consultants have the potential to do all three. They bring a broad and deep perspective from years of experience across a wide variety of investment situations, portfolio types, and investor objectives. Having a partner who can bring that kind of perspective has proven over time to be helpful to ­investors and their portfolios.