The Alpha Equation: Solving for Research Impact in Capital Markets

by: Aiah Lacson

How do you prove capital-markets research actually drives alpha? For a leading Canadian pension investor, we brought in a capital-markets advisor to build a practical framework that links Knowledge Management outputs to investment decisions and performance—backed by clear, stakeholder-friendly dashboards. The result: sharper research priorities, better alignment, and a repeatable way to evidence alpha generation.

Client Overview
The Challenge / Mandate
Search Strategy
The Placement
The Outcome

Client Overview

Our client is a leading Canadian investment management organization committed to helping over 22 million Canadians build financial security in retirement. With a mandate to manage the country’s largest pension fund, the organization invests globally across public and private equities, real estate, infrastructure, and fixed income. Their strategy is long-term, data-driven, and built around delivering sustainable value for generations to come.

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The Challenge / Mandate

The client’s Knowledge Management (KM) team sought to better understand and quantify the value generated by their internal research organization. The team produces a wide range of publications and insights intended to support investment decisions—but needed a structured methodology to measure their contribution to alpha generation.

The consultant was brought in to:

Evaluate and design a framework to quantify the research organization’s impact on investment outcomes
Identify effective methodologies to evaluate the value-add from research publications and advisory outputs
Recommend visualization strategies to communicate these insights to internal stakeholders
Act as a thought partner on fundamental investment questions and broader knowledge strategy

Search Strategy

The ideal candidate profile included:

Deep experience in capital markets research and investment management
Expertise in measuring qualitative outputs and translating them into actionable data
Strong foundational experience in primary and secondary research, with the ability to synthesize insights into strategic recommendations
Prior consulting experience with a top-tier firm and exposure to knowledge or research-driven investment environments

The Placement

The selected consultant is a Wharton MBA and CFA charterholder with a hybrid background spanning fundamental investing, strategy, and business operations. He brings direct capital markets expertise, having worked at an independent investment management firm where he conducted deep fundamental analysis, financial modeling, competitive research, and executive interviews to generate long-term equity investment ideas. His consulting background further equipped him to navigate cross-functional teams and distill complex information into decision-ready insights.

The Outcome

The consultant worked closely with the KM team to shape a more structured and strategic approach to evaluating their research function. Key contributions included:

Designing methodologies for mapping research output to investment outcomes
Advising on tools and visuals for surfacing value creation to internal stakeholders
Acting as a sounding board on strategic questions related to investment decision-making and knowledge generation

As a result, the KM team enhanced its ability to articulate the value of its insights, support internal partners more effectively, and plan its research priorities more strategically.