Fee standardization continues to be an elusive goal of the outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) industry. Fiduciaries seeking outsourced investment services continue to endure the often-confusing challenge of evaluating OCIO providers based on varied and inconsistent fee proposals. One provider's total fee may include everything (e.g., strategic advice, manager fees, manager change fees, trust and/or custody, travel for your client service team, reporting, etc.), while another provider's total fee may only include some of those items, and additional expenses are then charged piecemeal throughout the year.

• Do you feel confident that you can tell how your provider's fees compare to others?
• Do you understand how to get an apples-to-apples comparison?
• Can you answer the question, "What reduces the gross return to the net return?"

This paper dives into the questions above, discusses uncovering hidden fees, surprise upcharges, and the difference between price and value.