Institutional investors that are deploying a total portfolio approach are using a variety of solutions, according to recent reports by the CFA Institute Research & Policy Center and the International Centre for Pension Management.

An uptake in the investment method is resulting in different types of implementation and, according to the ICPM, there remains a lack of clarity about what TPA is in practice.

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Adrian Trollor, managing director at the ICPM, said there’s no single definition of TPA in practice and many variants already exist, in an emailed statement to Benefits Canada.

“By looking deeply at TPA models and their components, we were able to identify ‘enablers’ and ‘levers’ [essential components and variable components, respectively]. . . . Through this framework, TPA models can be classified along a spectrum from ‘fully integrated’ to ‘partially integrated’ models with hybrid models along this spectrum existing in........

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