Paid engagement

Portfolio Review

An independent structural assessment of a portfolio a client already holds, against the same criteria FIBCOS applies to its own Alpha Portfolios.

A Portfolio Review examines what a client owns and states what the evidence supports. It is written for one client, delivered to that client, and never published.

PaidConfidential to the clientNever published
What it isAn assessment of what you hold, against stated criteria.
What it is notAdvice, a recommendation, or management of any kind.
DeliveredHandled directly by the research desk
FeeQuoted per engagement
PublishedNever — see confidentiality below.
Request a review

Scope

What the review examines

The review covers

01Each holding assessed against the FIBCOS Structural Alpha criteria — whether a durable advantage is identifiable, the mechanism by which it would compound, and the conditions under which it would cease to hold.
02Concentration and overlap: how much of the portfolio depends on the same structural driver, which is often not the same as how many positions it holds.
03Whether the benchmark the portfolio is measured against is appropriate to its realised exposure, cap profile, universe and currency treatment.
04Positions where the available evidence does not support a structural conclusion either way, stated as such rather than resolved.
05Where a holding's thesis appears to have changed since it was taken, and what evidence would settle it.

The review does not

01A buy, sell or hold recommendation on any holding.
02Personal investment advice, financial planning or tax advice.
03Any discretionary or advisory management of the portfolio — FIBCOS does not manage third-party capital.
04A valuation, an audit, or any statement about the portfolio's past performance that the client has not evidenced.
05Publication of any part of the review, in any form, including anonymised.

The engagement

What you supply, and what you receive

You supply

01The holdings and their weights, at a stated date.
02The benchmark currently used, if any, and the currency basis.
03The mandate or objective the portfolio is intended to serve.
04Any constraints that bind it — concentration limits, exclusions, liquidity requirements.

You receive

01A written review, holding by holding, against the stated criteria.
02A concentration and structural-overlap assessment for the portfolio as a whole.
03A benchmark appropriateness note, with the reasoning stated.
04An explicit list of what the review could not conclude, and what evidence would be needed to conclude it.
05A review call with the research desk, if the engagement includes one.

Confidentiality

A Portfolio Review is confidential to the client who commissioned it. FIBCOS does not publish it, does not cite it, does not name the client, and does not use the holdings it contains as an input to any public FIBCOS record.

How it relates to the Alpha Portfolios

A FIBCOS Alpha Portfolio is a model portfolio FIBCOS constructs from its own Structural Alpha Index, at a fixed notional base, published in public. A Portfolio Review is the same analytical standard applied to a portfolio somebody else built — yours.

The criteria are identical, which is the point of commissioning one: a review tells you what the FIBCOS process concludes about the holdings you have, not what FIBCOS would have bought instead. Where the evidence does not support a structural conclusion, the review says so rather than substituting an opinion for it.

What a review will never do

It will not tell you to buy, sell or hold anything. FIBCOS does not manage third-party capital, does not provide personal investment advice, and does not know your circumstances, tax position or objectives beyond the mandate you state. A review is an assessment of durability and structure, and it stops there — deliberately.

Alpha PortfolioA FIBCOS model portfolio, published
Portfolio ReviewYour portfolio, assessed privately
Shared standardStructural Alpha methodology
Benchmark noteBenchmark methodology

Not investment advice

Nothing in a Portfolio Review is personal investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. FIBCOS does not currently provide investment-management services.