Once our consultants have a clear understanding of a client's individual needs, we begin an overall assessment of their current portfolio. We review the existing investment policy and asset allocation to see how well they support the client's objectives. We also conduct an evaluation of all existing investment managers and offer insight into the performance of the current account versus benchmarks and similar peers.

Canterbury's approach to asset allocation is strategic rather than tactical. It is designed to achieve our client's goals through long-range planning, not market timing. We will spend a good deal of time and effort at the start of a new client relationship crafting an asset allocation policy that reflects the goals and objectives our clients are trying to achieve. Incorporating a range of styles such as active and passive, growth and value, traditional and alternatives will help to create a strategically balanced portfolio.

The Investment Policy Statement is the institutional memory for the purpose, objectives, and management guidelines for the fund. As the fund's business plan, it is essential to communicating expectations for investment strategies as well as for investment performance. Canterbury will prepare a clearly defined Investment Policy Statement to help articulate the Fund's mission, establish meaningful objectives and risk parameters, hold investment managers more accountable by providing clearly defined performance objectives and improve portfolio performance by specifying asset allocation and portfolio rebalancing procedures.

A spending policy is a guideline developed in conjunction with the asset allocation policy for those investors who want to maintain the principal of their funds in perpetuity. Adhering to both the asset allocation and the spending guideline should allow an investment pool to be maintained indefinitely. The appropriate policy for an institution is heavily dependent on the foreseeable needs of the institution (inflows and outflows) in conjunction with its asset allocation plan and its long-term capital market return assumptions. The Policy should be unique to the institution's situation and Canterbury helps each client find the right formula.

Canterbury is active in finding new managers for our clients. Our manager research process is on-going, which results in a great deal of due diligence on each manager that Canterbury recommends and is independent of a particular manager search assignment.

Once our due diligence is complete, we identify managers that fit with the client's criteria and provide clients with an evaluation on the firm and key personnel, their investment process, portfolio characteristics, risk-return analysis and management fees. We then offer our perspective and insight to assist clients in making final hiring decisions.

In the search process for traditional equity and bond managers, we want to gain knowledge of an entire universe of available managers. But the research effort for non-traditional asset classes and strategies is narrower and focuses on individual firms and manager talent. Successful alternative investing is all about finding individuals with skill and integrity and focus.

Canterbury has been researching and recommending alternative strategies since 1990. We advise on Private Equity, Venture Capital, Real Estate, Commodities, Distressed Securities, and all types of Hedge Funds. Whether our clients are new to incorporating alternative investment into a portfolio or have a history of using alternative investments, Canterbury can build customized portfolios to meet our client's needs.

Most of our institutional clients operate with relatively small staffs but Canterbury is able to provide needed support with money movement, manager transitions or changes in custodians. Our analyst team provides assistance with transfer paperwork, new account documents, offering memorandums and other legal papers. They provide assistance and oversight of every transfer process and coordinate with custodian banks and managers to help ensure assets are invested both timely and efficiently.

For each client, Canterbury creates a custom policy index which reflective of the asset mix the client and consultant have reached together. Sometimes clients have guidelines written into their investment policy that call for the fund to outperform a specific benchmark, i.e. CPI +5% or an actuarial assumption for investments. The benchmarks used are unique to each client and are decided upon only after discussion and agreement by the client, the manager and the consultant.

Canterbury independently calculates investment performance from each client's custodial statements. We prepare a customized performance report that is distributed to clients on a quarterly basis. In the report we analyze the total fund's performance versus the policy index and its peers as well as individual manager returns against industry benchmarks and their peers.

In addition to reviewing the raw performance numbers, Canterbury closely monitors the money managers and funds in which our clients invest. Each quarter we meet with managers to discuss the performance for the quarter and year-to-date, positions bought or sold, future outlook and firm updates. This qualitative review is combined with our performance attribution and style drift analysis and becomes part of our quarterly report.

As endowments, foundations and other non-profit organizations allocate a greater percentage of their assets to alternative investments, there has been more focus by management and auditors on appropriate methods for control and valuation. Because Canterbury works with a number of non-profit organizations, we are able to leverage our experience with different types of clients and various audit firms to provide guidance on establishing internal controls and procedures. We assist by educating clients on the latest regulatory changes such as the SAS 112 or the FASB 157, establishing an initial due diligence file, creating a control sheet for ongoing investment monitoring and helping staff determine how they might categorize their investments for valuation purposes. While the practice of evaluating and valuing alternative assets is an evolving one, having the right policies in place at the outset makes managing the audit process considerably less demanding.

Canterbury seeks to educate committee members on various investment topics in order to broaden their knowledge and help them make informed decisions. On a regular basis, we provide presentations on the nature and viability of various asset classes or strategies, investment trends or economic themes. Our consultants train committees on how to interpret performance returns within the context of the economic environment, and how to understand manager returns via our attribution analysis.

We meet with our clients as frequently as each client requires. Generally, when we are first engaged, meetings may be monthly while we go through the asset allocation, manager structure, investment policy development and manager search process. Once those decisions have been made and we assist our clients in implementing the decisions, meetings may become less frequent and a regular quarterly meeting schedule is arranged.

Canterbury offers assistance in reviewing custodial and safekeeping arrangements and/or performing a custodian search. Canterbury's analysis includes a review of the firm's history and ownership structure as well as general assets under management and fund options. We conduct a detailed comparison study of fees: annual fees, maintenance fees and transaction fees. We also look at their cash management funds for both fees and yields.

Canterbury has extensive experience working with religious organizations and mission based investment programs who are interested in Socially Responsible Investing. When clients have objections to owning certain companies or mutual funds, Canterbury works with the individual money managers to ensure those securities are restricted from their accounts. We then employ software which helps us track and update changes to the restricted security lists and communicate these changes to the appropriate managers.

Canterbury has long worked with corporate and non-profit organizations to help them manage their retirement plans. When a client needs assistance with their 401(k) or 403(b) plan, we conduct a plan provider search. Canterbury recommends that plan sponsors work with a bundled provider who can offer administration and recordkeeping services as well as participant services. We help clients find firms with an open architecture platform and Canterbury partners with that firm to provide investment advisory services on policy, fund selection, customized blended portfolio and performance monitoring.