In 2010, the Finnish government granted matching funds to universities for their fundraising efforts. At that time, Hanken was successful in quickly increasing its liquid assets. This created a need to find suitable asset managers to oversee the investment portfolio. Back then, Hanken carried out the asset manager selection independently and ended up choosing two partners to manage its liquid assets.
According to Kristian, fourteen years later it was a natural time to re-evaluate the asset managers in use, which led to the decision to initiate a new tendering process. In addition, they wanted to make changes to their investment strategy, especially by increasing the role of passive investment solutions in their asset management. Since Hanken manages its alternative investments internally, the tender was limited to equity and fixed income investments only. Another goal was to reduce the number of asset managers from two to one.
This time, the tender process was subject to the Finnish Public Procurement Act, which is why they decided to involve an external expert. After evaluating potential partners in Finland, they chose us as their advisor following interviews with several candidates. One of SFR’s key strengths was its strong legal expertise, which is crucial when complying with the Public Procurement Act.
Hanken had two clear goals for the tendering process: to increase the share of passive investing in the equity portfolio and to update the asset management fees to a competitive level. According to Kristian, the tender was very successful and these goals were achieved. Hanken had several strong candidates and was able to select the most suitable partner among them.
Our collaboration began in February 2024 by defining the goals of the tender and the evaluation criteria. The tender was published in March, and asset managers submitted their proposals by the end of April. SFR Advisors then analyzed the submissions and carried out a comparison.
The project included an interview stage for the top-scoring asset managers. These interviews were conducted over two days and included seven managers. Kristian was very satisfied with the interviews, stating they strongly supported the decision-making process. After the interviews, Hanken selected its asset manager, and cooperation began in summer 2024.
Partnering with SFR Advisors was particularly important for complying with the Public Procurement Act, as Hanken had limited previous experience with this type of procurement. SFR’s legal expert ensured that all aspects of the procurement law were appropriately addressed.
One of the key benefits Kristian highlighted was that SFR Advisors handled the project coordination and scheduling. Since all investment committee members are busy with their day jobs, it was crucial to have someone leading the process forward.
Kristian explained that operating under the Public Procurement Act adds complexity compared to their previous internally managed tender. However, with the legal support provided by SFR Advisors’ partner, all legal requirements were successfully met. Compared to their previous tender, more attention had to be paid to the scoring system, which had to be carefully defined in advance. Thanks to thorough preparation, this challenge was also successfully managed.
Kristian shared that the entire investment committee was very satisfied with the cooperation and highlighted SFR’s genuine commitment to the project. SFR Advisors took an active role and, according to Kristian, felt like part of the investment committee. They had a strong understanding of Hanken’s history and project goals, and did not feel like a distant service provider. SFR’s experts led the project in a highly structured manner, and communication was excellent throughout.
Kristian emphasizes the importance of investing in the early phases of the project: defining the tender and gathering the necessary data. This ensures that all parts of the process, such as interviews and quantitative evaluations, are well-prepared and do not come as surprises.
He also recommends involving an expert in the project:
“Even though our investment committee consists of professionals in the field, SFR Advisors' services were of great help in organizing and executing the project. The cooperation saved us time—we would not have had the capacity to carry out such a thorough process on our own.”
We have years of experience in conducting various types of asset management tenders. We are well-versed in both public procurement law-compliant processes and private tenders without legal constraints. Learn more about our asset management tendering services here!