Altair’s process for determining asset classes and selecting investment managers involves our Investment Committee, our Research Group, and our client service professionals. Our research is proprietary and unbiased.

Investment Committee
Altair’s Investment Committee, which consists of six Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholders, two Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designees, and two MBA's is responsible for setting investment policy and making final determinations regarding investment manager decisions.

Research Process
The research function is carried out by a group of three full-time team members. In addition, our senior client service team is actively involved, often working hand in hand with the research group, including researching new asset classes and participating in manager on-site visits and evaluations. The strong involvement of our client service professionals in the research process makes our firm stand out over those firms that have a separation of the functions, and allows us to bring first-hand insights to our clients.


Managers are selected based on a variety of quantitative and qualitative criteria. In any particular asset class, we screen hundreds of managers and apply a proprietary multi-factor model to objectively rank managers within their peer group, with an emphasis in risk and return measures. We then remove managers that have certain qualitative attributes that we deem undesirable based on information that we gather from our database, detailed questionnaire that managers have completed, or by examining their Form ADV filed with the SEC. After determining the finalists, we conduct an on-site visit consisting of an in-depth series of meetings with principals, portfolio managers, analysts, and other personnel. Our final step is negotiating reduced fees and minimums for our clients. Ultimately, the Investment Committee determines which managers are included on our recommended list.


Unbiased Research
Neither Altair nor the administrators of the databases we use charge fees for inclusion in the database or manager searches. This ensures that we are considering the largest possible universe of managers in each search. We receive no compensation in any form from the investment managers we recommend or those under consideration for recommendation.


Asset Classes Covered

Traditional Asset Classes:
Domestic Large Cap Equity
Domestic Small Cap Equity
International Equity – Developed Markets
International Equity – Small Cap
International Equity - Emerging Markets
Municipal and Taxable Fixed Income

Alternative Asset Classes:
Hedged/Opportunistic Investments
Private Equity
High Yield Fixed Income
Real Estate - Domestic
Real Estate - International
Commodities