The Chestnut Solutions Institute tm
Mission
An independent forum for firms across the solutions industry – OCIOs, solutions providers, asset managers – dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry. The Institute’s mission is to:
01
Educate the marketplace
Educate the marketplace and investors about the investment solutions/OCIO industry.
02
Promote Ethical Standards
Help establish and promote the best and most consistent operating standards and business practices.
03
Promote A Level Playing Field
Promote a fair and level playing field by enhancing transparency & advancing holistic measurement of client outcomes, performance and value.
Mandate
The Institute will achieve its goals by providing:
01
Thought leadership & research
We conduct and publish for our members timely market research into issues affecting solutions businesses and investors.
02
Peer-to-peer forums
We host in person and virtual member forums promoting dialog, understanding and transparency amongst our members.
03
Public education
We aim to help grow the investment solutions market by publicizing our research and hosting exclusive public events directly engaging solutions buyers and intermediaries.
The Institute’s independent market research, thought leadership, and engagement with investment solutions industry participants aims to provide greater clarity to this valuable industry segment, benefitting investors, providers, and the solutions ecosystem at large.
Solutions providers and investors are limited by the industry’s current lack of standards, norms, and transparency. This inhibits investors from understanding the wide range of valuable capabilities available to them and easily selecting the solutions provider who is best aligned with their needs and objectives.
The Institute is dedicated to helping the investment solutions industry create the same strong clarity and investor trust enjoyed by other, more mature investment industry segments.
Institute Member Benefits
The Institute offers a wide range of benefits at the Core and Full membership levels. Full members receive all Core member benefits plus significant marketplace visibility and leadership opportunities. All members can leverage membership benefits in marketing activities.
FULL MEMBERSHIP
ENHANCE THE SOLUTIONS INDUSTRY AS ONE OF ITS LEADERS
Full member firms drive the institute's research agenda and influence our recommendations by participating in working groups
HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE
Attend our bi-annual Member Forums, where senior investment and business leaders discuss the latest developments and innovation in the solutions industry
VISIBILITY AND GROWTH
Help grow the market across current and emerging client segments via exclusive Member-only speaking opportunities at public webinars and podcasts
CORE MEMBERSHIP
EXCLUSIVE ACCESS TO INSTITUTE INSIGHTS
All member firms receive access to the Institute's Members-only research and content, including the Defining Investment Solutions report
INVITATIONS TO MEMBER EVENTS
All Institute events, virtual forums, member briefings and public webinars are open to Core Members
Consulting
A Chestnut Senior Advisor will engage in a custom consultation, client event or management meeting with each Member firm to discuss any industry and/or strategy issues of focus for that Member
featured
- Events, Webinar
Join us for an in-depth discussion of findings from Chestnut’s 2025 Global OCIO Study. We will examine why OCIO and custom solutions are the fastest-growing segment of the global asset management marketplace and where the market is headed next.
- Featured
We have created a public OCIO Directory which enables investors to evaluate OCIO provider scale across firms on a truly consistent, comparable basis for the first time, in keeping with the Institute’s mission to promote transparency and best operating standards across the solutions industry.
All firms included in the Directory have reported their OCIO AUM in accordance with the Institute’s OCIO mandate definition, reflecting their commitment to transparency and alignment with the Institute’s standards.
- Events, Featured
The official launch of CSI Canada marks the expansion of the Chestnut Solutions Institute’s standards-driven approach into the critical and previously under-examined Canadian investment solutions market. Coinciding with this milestone is the release of Measuring the Canadian Solutions Marketplace—the first ever comprehensive study of Canada’s OCIO and investment solutions market, and a landmark publication for the Institute.
- Events, Featured, Report
The Chestnut Solutions Institute has published the first comprehensive study of Canada’s OCIO and investment solutions market. The Measuring the Canadian Solutions Marketplace report marks a meaningful milestone for the Canadian investment solutions industry and reflects the Institute’s commitment to promoting clarity, establishing uniform standards, and enhancing transparency across both the Canadian and global solutions marketplace.
The study is freely available to all Institute Member firms, and is also available for purchase by non-member firms.
- Events, Featured
The Institute’s inaugural OCIO Market Leader Awards recognize the leading OCIO providers whose market scale can now be assessed on a consistent and comparable basis for the first time, based on standardized reporting aligned with the Institute’s definition of an OCIO mandate. Eligibility was limited to firms that participated in the Institute’s 2025 Global OCIO Study, reflecting their commitment to industry transparency and adherence to the Institute’s new OCIO mandate definition.
- Events, Featured, Report
The Institute’s 2025 OCIO report provides the most comprehensive, detailed and accurate picture of the global OCIO marketplace to date, delivering critical transparency for both asset owners and providers.
The Measuring the Global OCIO Marketplace: 2025 Global OCIO Study Findings report is freely available to all Institute Member firms and is also available for purchase by non-member firms.
- Events, Featured, Webinar
Our panel of expert investors from the world’s most prominent investment management firms addressed all key questions more in our annual strategist roundtable, such as: Is the economy at a turning point? Is the AI bubble about to burst? Are asset class expectations narrowing? How are investors repositioning client portfolios to serve the increasingly complex client needs?
- Events, Forums
The Chestnut Solutions Institute Fall Member Forum brings together leading OCIO and investment solutions providers for strategic, exclusive members-only dialogue on the most pressing opportunities and challenges facing the industry. This intimate event will feature a half day of exclusive marketplace intelligence, peer-to-peer dialogue and insights, and practical strategies to help members navigate the rapidly-evolving solutions industry marketplace.
- Events, Forums, Report
Non-profit investors are increasingly adopting custom investment solutions to successfully navigate the rapidly changing regulatory and investment landscapes. Are your current investment and governance approaches keeping pace with all the new options available to non-profit investors today?
- Events, Presentation, Webinar
Institutional and retail investors alike are increasingly seeking custom investment solutions – from mullti-asset products to full OCIO engagements – to help them achieve their unique investment goals for 2025 and beyond. In this roundtable we will speak with three senior investors who each manage a range of solutions portfolios for their clients about how they are thinking about and positioning their clients’ portfolios to succeed in 2025.
our Membership
The Institute offers Full Membership & Core Membership to firms across the investment solutions industry: OCIOs, asset managers, investors and evaluators.
Access for an unlimited number of designated people from the Member firm to Institute Members-only research, thought leadership, and all materials and replays from Member Forums, Public Webinars and the Solutions Scoop podast
Attend two annual in-person Member forums
1 senior delegate
Two senior delegates
Ability to cite firm’s Chestnut Solutions Institute Membership status and use Member-only CSI research content, with proper attribution, in client materials and RFPs
Invitations to all virtual forums, member briefings and public webinars
Custom presentation by Senior Institute leaders to Member firm, either internal (Board, leadership, salesforce) or external (prospects, clients, etc.).
1 per year (any travel costs additional)
1 per year (any travel costs additional)
Provide input on Institute priorities and forum discussion topics
Public recognition of Firm’s Institute membership on website, in social media, etc.
Speaking opportunities in public Institute-hosted webinars and forums
At least 1 webinar speaking slot per Membership year
Institute Podcast solo ‘Executive Conversation’ speaking opportunity
1 podcast slot gratis in first Membership year
Participation in Institute Working Group, to contribute to and review original Institute research into pressing investment solutions industry business issues, with public attribution in related Institute reports
1 working group participant per year
reports
The Institute’s Landmark 2025 GLOBAL OCIO MARKETPLACE REPORT
- The Institute’s 2025 OCIO report provides the most comprehensive, detailed and accurate picture of the global OCIO marketplace to date, delivering critical transparency for both asset owners and providers. Key elements include:
- The Institute introduces the industry’s first clear definition of an outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) mandate, establishing a market standard and more consistent foundation for market analysis.
- A new provider type taxonomy, market share and detailed provider lists by AUM across geographic markets and by client segment.
- Comprehensive global OCIO market data on asset allocation, mandate sizes, provider capabilities, and fee structures.
- The Measuring the Global OCIO Marketplace: 2025 Global OCIO Study Findings report is freely available to all Institute Member firms and is also available for purchase by non-member firms.
Evaluating OCIOs & Solutions Providers
The massive growth in OCIO and investment solutions is being driven by investors seeking holistic solutions addressing complex needs that fall well beyond the traditional risk/return goals. The Chestnut Solutions Institute has created a new Holistic Value Measurement (“HVM”) framework that enables investors to move beyond traditional two-dimensional performance and fee assessments toward a holistic view of the provider’s ability to ensure the investor achieves their desired outcome.
The Institute’s Defining Investment Solutions Report
- The Defining Investment Solutions report represents an important milestone in the Institute’s mission. Key report elements include:
- The Institute’s proposed answer to the foundational question: What, exactly, is an ‘investment solution’?
- A thorough examination of the current solutions marketplace, informed by Chestnut’s recent proprietary research with approximately 100 senior professionals across the solutions ecosystem
- Introducing a new framework designed to help all investment solutions stakeholders achieve optimal investor outcomes more easily
Critical Challenges
Although investor demand for holistic solutions has never been higher (Chestnut forecasts Global OCIO AUA at $4.8 T in 2024, and expects it to grow to $7.3T by 2029), both solutions providers and investors are hampered by critical challenges and lack of understanding, hindering the industry’s further growth:
Low investor awareness of the full spectrum of solutions products and services that can effectively meet their diverse needs
A lack of standards, best practices and value measurement, all necessary precursors of the clarity and investor trust a sustainable investment industry marketplace requires
The lack of transparency and a forum for collaboration for the investment solutions provider community
Research-Driven Thought Leadership
Chestnut’s strategy consulting and market research work with leading asset managers has driven the firm’s increasing focus on the investment solutions industry over the past decade.
As an independent firm with a long history of conducting insightful investment market research, Chestnut is well placed to facilitate collaboration among the solutions provider community and create research-driven thought leadership for the benefit of all stakeholders, including end investors.
GET IN TOUCH
Contact us to learn about our Advisory services, the Chestnut Solutions Institute and to gain access to our Insights.