Advisory
Advice from people who have had to live with the consequences.
We have run research desks, managed institutional portfolios, led listed financial services businesses and evaluated public programmes. The advice we give is the advice we would act on ourselves.
Markets and investment consulting
Independent assessment of businesses, sectors and valuations for institutions, family offices and promoters. Reviews of investment process and portfolio construction. Sanity checks on a thesis before capital is committed, and honest post-mortems afterwards.
- Company and sector assessment
- Investment process and portfolio review
- Second opinions on live theses
Management consulting
Strategy and structure for businesses at a turn: entering a new line, raising capital, professionalising a promoter-run firm, or deciding what to stop doing. Three decades of watching capital allocation succeed and fail informs every recommendation.
- Growth and capital allocation strategy
- Organisation design for financial services
- Board and promoter advisory
CSR strategy and impact evaluation
Boards are now accountable not only for what they spend on social programmes but for what those programmes achieve. We help design CSR strategy, develop education and programme content, and — independently of the implementing partner — evaluate whether the money is doing what it was meant to do.
- CSR strategy and programme design
- Education and content development
- Independent efficacy and impact evaluation
Urban development and the public sector
Consulting on urban development and urban management for government clients, including work in Telangana. Public-sector work has its own arithmetic — longer horizons, more stakeholders, and outcomes that are measured in the life of a city rather than a quarter.
- Urban development and management advisory
- Project structuring and appraisal
- Programme review for public bodies
How we work
Four commitments
The partners do the work
There is no pyramid here. The person you meet is the person who does the analysis and signs the recommendation.
A small number of engagements
We take on only as much as we can do properly. Occasionally that means saying no to work we would enjoy.
Independence, plainly stated
We disclose our interests. Where we hold a position in something under discussion, you will hear it from us first.
Uncomfortable conclusions included
An adviser who only confirms what you already believe is an expensive mirror. We would rather be useful.
Tell us what you are weighing up.
A short conversation is usually enough to tell whether we are the right people for it.