RVK has significant experience assisting our clients with their relationships with providers of trust/custody services, trustee/custodial searches, and related competitive reviews. This experience positions our firm exceptionally well to provide trust/custody consulting, search, and evaluation services to our clients.
We assist clients with the evaluation of providers of trust/custody services based on the scope of services currently and potentially required by a client and the reasonableness and competitiveness of current/proposed fees charged or revenue derived for providing such services. Consulting review engagements can involve a range of services from limited-scope reasonableness reviews to extensive and in-depth assessments of service levels. We typically conduct full scope evaluations using an in-depth questionnaire included within a customized request for proposal. The results of such inquiries are summarized into a search report and actionable recommendations for the client.
RVK can further assist clients with a business review of custodial contracts and has developed special expertise in creating and negotiating contractual documents that tie a vendor's compensation to the actual level of service rendered through service level agreements. Such service level agreements tend to increase the level of service provided by asset servicing firms while facilitating a regular feedback loop to verify service quality is maintained.