Executive recruiter David Barrett explains the initial stages of conducting institutional CIO searches to Ted Seides.
Insight
Sophisticated clients select executive search firms before negotiating fees, Barrett notes
“The clients that we like to work with, and it's, I'd say it's 90% of the time, it's not price at all. I'd say that, you know, the sophisticated and appropriate users of search, they will pick a firm, and then they'll negotiate the price.”
Insight
The most successful CIOs actively leverage their investment committees
“The most successful CIOs are leveraging their investment committees.”
Insight
Calibrating how a candidate thinks as an investor is uniquely difficult
“They know as much about the, in many cases, they'll, they'll have, especially in terms of unique insights, potentially into the, how that person thinks as an investor, which is the hardest thing for us to really calibrate.”
Insight
Successful institutional searches require a tight committee of three or four
“Well, a successful search, you get all those other constituencies, you get all their input up front, so they feel included. And then you have a really tight search committee of three, maybe four people, and they tightly control the process.”
Insight
Evaluating true endowment CIO investment performance requires at least five years
“So, I think you take your, really your first breath on the, and the calibration point, maybe at three years, but it's, I think, five years for me is the proof of the pudding.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Technology will never compress senior executive search into a six-week process
“The length of time to complete searches has not shortened. Because it is a people business, it is, it's based on personal relationships, meeting people in person, building trust, establishing credibility, both with the search firm and the candidate, and then t…”