Join the Collaborative
Cerulli’s Institutional Investors Research Collaborative
Cerulli’s Institutional Investors Research Collaborative (IIRC) provides asset owners—endowments and foundations, corporate defined benefit, public defined benefit, health and hospital systems, and insurance firms— the opportunity to share and learn from industry peers about the latest trends, ideas, and best practices shaping the institutional market. Together with Cerulli’s 30 years of deep industry knowledge, participation will arm you with intelligence, research, and data to validate investment-related recommendations presented to board and committee members.

Participate in IIRC
Why IIRC?
Our Mission
Cerulli recognizes there are few opportunities for asset owners to share their perspectives on important industry topics away from asset managers, investment consultants, and service providers. Cerulli Associates is an independent source of important strategic information, providing unbiased insights on financial service industry trends for over 30 years.
BENEFITS
Why Participate?
Asset owners trust Cerulli’s Collaborative to gain critical industry intelligence, learn best practices from peer-driven engagement, and form better relationships with asset management and consultant partners.

Intellectual Capital
Cerulli Associates’ research expertise, combined with asset owner participation in IIRC, will offer a unique set of insights and information that can be used to make important decisions about your organization’s investment policies, asset allocation, and other decisions about your investable assets.
Peer-Driven Networking
Grow your relationships with industry peers. Cerulli’s in-person and virtual events are geared toward helping you foment stronger relationships and build best practices driven by peer engagement.
Access to Analysts
Meet with our team of industry experts. Share your unique professional perspectives while contributing to qualitative aspects of the survey process.
REWARDS
What Do You Receive?

Survey Benchmark Reports
See how your responses compare with those of other participants.

Key Findings
Engaging 1-2 page documents summaries of survey results. These are easy to read and share within your organization.

White Papers
Reports on topics that matter to you, including insights into OCIO, ESG, asset allocation, investment product trends, and many more.

The Details
What is Your Commitment?
- Your participation is completely voluntary, there is no required time commitment for surveys, interviews, or in-person events.
- Cerulli will launch multiple surveys over the course of the year.
- There will be surveys that are very broad and some tailored to client types.
- Surveys will range in size and scope. We will tell you the number of questions and approximate time commitment up front. Time commitments typically range from between 10 – 30 minutes.
- Occasional interviews would be over Zoom approximately 30-45 minutes long. Your responses and comments will remain strictly anonymous.
- Virtual or in-person roundtables will be limited in size to have meaningful conversations
IS THIS FOR YOU?
Who Participates
Do you shape investment decisions at institutions? Do you want to understand how your peers are thinking about investment allocations, portfolio risk, and funding status? If so, we encourage you to join us.
Here to Help
Meet the Team

Michele Giuditta, CFA
Director
Bio →

Michele Giuditta, CFA
Director
Michele is a director of the Institutional practice and leads research for annual reports and strategic consulting engagements. She specializes in environmental, social, and governance investing and outsourced CIO research.
Prior to joining Cerulli Associates, Michele worked at Cambridge Associates as an Associate Director in the Client Relationship Management Group. Additionally, she worked at Manulife Asset Management in the Institutional Investment Sales & Services Group, and held roles in Product Management and Client Relationship Management. She began her career as an analyst in the Investment Policy & Research Group at John Hancock.
Full biography here.

Gloria Pais
Analyst
Bio →

Gloria Pais
Analyst
Gloria supports the firm’s institutional research efforts, assisting with data processing, analysis, and survey administration. She contributes to the production of multiple reports, as well as The Cerulli Edge—Institutional Edition. She supports the firm’s consulting efforts, advising clients on strategic initiatives and equipping them with tools needed to navigate the institutional asset management space. Gloria is currently a candidate for the CFA® Certificate in ESG Investing .
Gloria graduated from Salem State University with a degree in finance, where she worked on various strategic management team research reports focusing on conducting strategic group analysis and industry driving forces analysis.
Full biography here.

Christopher Swansey
Associate Director
Bio →

Christopher Swansey
Associate Director
Christopher is an associate director on the Institutional team where he supports multiple reports annually, including the annual outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) report, and various strategic consulting projects throughout the year. He also regularly contributes to The Cerulli Edge—Institutional Edition, The Cerulli Edge—U.S. Edition, and The Cerulli Edge—U.S. Monthly Product Trends.
Christopher was a Senior Analyst at Mercer working within their executive compensation practice before joining Cerulli in 2018.
Full biography here.

James Tamposi, CFA
Associate Director
Bio →

James Tamposi, CFA
Associate Director
James (Jack) is the lead author of The Cerulli Report—North American Institutional Markets and sets the agenda for The Cerulli Edge—U.S. Institutional Edition. Jack has led U.S. market entry strategy and U.S. institutional pricing optimization projects, supporting both foreign and domestic asset managers. During his time at Cerulli, he has contributed to reports across Cerulli’s suite of institutional research, focusing on topics such as insurance general accounts, outsourced chief investment officers, alternative investments, and U.S. subadvisory.
Prior to joining Cerulli, Jack worked as a Research Associate for Chatham Partners.
Full biography here.

Agnes Ugoji
Analyst
Bio →

Agnes Ugoji
Analyst
Agnes is a member of Cerulli's Institutional team. As an analyst, she assists with data processing, analysis, and survey administration. She contributes to the production of the Institutional Sales and Marketing report as well as The Cerulli Edge—Institutional Edition.
Prior to joining Cerulli, Agnes interned at Loomis Sayles & Company and completed a fellowship with the Dartmouth College Investment Office. During the pandemic, she contributed to COVID-19 research and data production for the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and the International Organization for Migration.
Full biography here.
Additional Content
Available White Papers

FEATURED WHITE PAPER
Responsible Investing Trends
Institutional investors navigate an evolving responsible investing landscape, balancing commitment, scrutiny, and the need for expert guidance.

OCIO Usage and Trends
Institutional investors’ use of outsourced chief investment officers (OCIOs) is expanding across several channels.

Pension Risk Transfer Activity Soars as More Plan Sponsors Seek to Derisk
Considering a pension risk transfer? Some housekeeping may be in order...

Current Institutional Investor Appetite for ESG
Despite slowing growth from political pressure and regulatory scrutiny, institutional investors’ adoption of ESG still gaining ground

Intermittent Liquidity Products Expand Investment Opportunities for Smaller Institutions
Amid a challenging fundraising environment, asset managers explore previously untapped segments, including small institutions

Asset Owners Have More Reasons to Move to an OCIO Model
Expanded access for new clients, risk exposure evaluation for current clients expected to ramp up
Explore
Featured Webinars
Hear from our institutional analysts across a variety of topics:

July 2024
Taking Private Investments to the Masses
Cerulli’s Daniil Shapiro, CFA, shares insight into the structures and channels managers should consider for distribution to the masses, the types of exposures that wealth managers are looking for, and other resources needed to grow adoption.

April 2024
U.S. OCIO: Remapping Client Types and Investment Needs
Understanding the current and projected investment and service demands from OCIOs—and the institutions they serve—will become increasingly important to asset managers and other third-party providers seeking to win marketshare.

October 2023
U.S. Alternative Investments: Defining Opportunities for Adoption
Explore the greatest opportunities for product development and distribution and gain practical knowledge into how managers can best position their lineup for greater retail adoption with the findings from this webinar.
Have Questions?
Visit our FAQ page to learn more about IIRC and what you can expect as a member of the Collaborative.