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Form CRSAn evidence-based alternative
to the traditional OCIO.
A client guide to outsourced investment management for the boards and investment committees of mission-driven institutions.
Supporting community impact.
Advancing lasting opportunity.
Serving people and purpose.
Illustrative imagery. Not actual IFA clients or affiliated institutions.
01 / Understanding the model
An Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) is a fiduciary partner engaged by a board or investment committee to assume some or all of the responsibilities of an internal Chief Investment Officer: setting or implementing asset allocation, selecting investments, managing risk, and reporting results. Conventional OCIOs typically build portfolios around actively managed strategies, researching and selecting managers on the institution’s behalf.
IFA OCIO, a division of Index Fund Advisors, Inc. (IFA), builds and manages globally diversified, index-based portfolios, grounded in Modern Portfolio Theory and decades of peer-reviewed academic research. Rather than relying on manager outperformance or market timing, IFA acts as a fee-only fiduciary, assuming discretionary investment authority while seeking to reduce layers of cost and manager-selection risk.
Historical index data are used to construct hypothetical, back-tested portfolio results and do not represent actual IFA client performance or IFA’s advisory track record. Hypothetical results have inherent limitations and are not indicative of future results.
02 / The provider landscape
The OCIO industry has grown into a large, increasingly concentrated market. Many providers use active manager selection, including private equity, private credit, venture capital, and other potentially higher-cost and less-liquid strategies. For the largest endowments and foundations, generally above $1 billion in assets, scale may bring access to capacity-constrained managers, better fee terms, and room to tolerate illiquidity.
NACUBO-Commonfund Study data have shown associations between an endowment’s size, its allocation to and access within alternative strategies, and the higher returns reported by the largest cohorts during certain study periods. Below that scale, some conventional OCIOs may recommend comparably large, high-cost, illiquid allocations without the same tier of managers or terms.
IFA OCIO focuses on reducing active-manager-selection risk and associated cost drag through transparency, rather than competing on active-manager access or tactical positioning. Provider structures vary; no investment approach assures a particular result.
03 / Evaluating an investment partner
Apply the same framework consistently across every provider under consideration.
The criteria below reflect common institutional search practice, alongside how IFA OCIO addresses each one.
IFA OCIO serves as a discretionary, fee-only fiduciary, exercising investment discretion subject to its advisory agreement and applicable fiduciary obligations.
Fee-only compensation is disclosed in IFA’s Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS. IFA receives no commissions or product-sales revenue.
IFA sells no proprietary active funds and receives no compensation from underlying fund providers. Portfolios use widely available index and index-based fund strategies from leading providers.
More than 98 years of underlying index risk-and-return history may be used for portfolio design and education. Hypothetical back-tested results, when presented, are shown net of fees with applicable back-testing disclosures.
IFA was founded in 1999 and has operated an evidence-based methodology continuously since inception. The firm is headquartered in Irvine, California.
IFA continuously analyzes a broad universe of index and index-based funds from providers including Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors, Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), and Avantis, and recommends an allocation designed to pursue the institution’s goals.
The model is best suited to committees seeking a documented, low-cost, evidence-based process that emphasizes index-based investing, transparency, and cost control.
Historical index data and hypothetical back-tests are not actual client performance. See Important Disclosures.
Governance & the advisory relationship
The board or committee sets the institution’s risk evaluation and objectives. IFA OCIO implements and maintains the portfolio.
04 / The engagement model
IFA OCIO operates as a discretionary, fee-only fiduciary relationship. Within the institution’s agreed parameters, IFA implements and maintains a globally diversified, index-based portfolio.
IFA implements the agreed strategy directly, reducing the committee’s day-to-day burden.
A shared, documented understanding of risk, return, and diversification comes before implementation.
IFA has applied the same evidence-based approach since 1999.
05 / Why institutions choose IFA OCIO
An evidence-based methodology applied since IFA’s founding.
Serving individuals, trusts, corporations, nonprofits, and institutions.
Designed to support trustees in carrying out their investment-governance responsibilities.
Grounded in academic research, including work by Eugene Fama, Harry Markowitz, and Kenneth French.
No proprietary active funds and no market timing.
Index and index-based strategies from providers including Vanguard, State Street, DFA, and Avantis.
Books, documentary films, academic libraries, and researcher interviews.
The IFA OCIO coin
Six principles. One disciplined approach.
The coin places IFA OCIO at the center of six connected commitments. Read clockwise from the upper left, the rim describes how we serve institutions, how we invest, and how we maintain the process over time.
The coin is a visual expression of our philosophy, not a certification or a guarantee of investment results.
Your institution’s interests come first. IFA OCIO exercises investment discretion within the advisory agreement and agreed objectives, supporting trustees as they oversee investment risk and their institution’s mission.
Advice should be evaluated alongside the incentives behind it. IFA’s fee-only structure, absence of proprietary funds, and lack of compensation from underlying fund providers support independent fund selection and transparent recommendations.
The portfolio follows an evidence-based process rather than predictions about winning managers or market turning points. Index and index-based funds support a diversified allocation aligned with institutional goals.
Spreading investments across markets and asset classes helps manage concentration risk and aligns the portfolio with the institution’s risk evaluation. Diversification does not eliminate market risk or guarantee a profit.
Evaluate every layer of expense, not just the advisory fee. IFA OCIO emphasizes transparent pricing and low-cost, index-based portfolios so committees can understand how costs affect the resources available to pursue their mission.
An Investment Policy Statement turns objectives into an ongoing process. Rebalancing, periodic risk evaluation, and clear reporting help maintain a consistent strategy instead of reacting to market headlines or short-term results.
06 / Getting started
A structured process for connecting investment decisions to your objectives, obligations, and time horizon.
Evaluate the institution’s time horizon, liquidity needs, and funding or spending obligations to complete a formal risk evaluation.
Walk the investment committee through the evidence behind the recommended approach, so decisions are informed and documented.
Create or review the written IPS, defining objectives, risk parameters, and index-based investment guidelines.
Transition assets into the risk-appropriate, globally diversified, index-based portfolio.
Continue disciplined rebalancing, periodic risk evaluation, and clear, timely reporting for the life of the relationship.
Your mission comes first.
Illustrative imagery; not actual IFA clients.
Discuss your institution’s objectives and evaluate whether IFA OCIO’s fee-only, index-based model is the right fit.
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