U.S. Institutional
Understand what’s driving change among defined benefit, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, and investment consultants.

Practice Detail
Cerulli’s Institutional practice provides comprehensive analysis of the U.S. institutional asset management industry, covering trends in defined benefit, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, healthcare organizations, and investment consultants. Areas of focus include: outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO), use of alternatives, asset allocation trends and risk-factor approaches, request for proposal (RFP) teams, investment vehicle use, investment consulting and other third-party database teams, institutional use of multi-asset-class solutions, and emerging investment strategy trends.
Publications
- Annual report
- The Cerulli Edge
Our Experts
Meet the Team
Whether analyzing product fees to determine appropriate pricing models, consolidation opportunities, regional expansion, or service model changes, Cerulli’s Institutional team provides distinct insight to base well-grounded business decisions.

Michele Giuditta, CFA
Director
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Michele Giuditta, CFA
Director
Michele is a director in the Institutional practice, specializing in research and consulting related to institutional investors and third-party allocators, including defined benefit plans, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, healthcare organizations, investment consultants, and outsourced chief investment officers (OCIOs). As the co-head of Cerulli’s Institutional practice, Michele leads research for annual reports and strategic consulting engagements. During her tenure at Cerulli, Michele’s research has covered topics including investment consultants and OCIOS, responsible investing, alternative investments, and institutional distribution trends.
Prior to joining Cerulli Associates, Michele worked at Cambridge Associates as an Associate Director in the Client Relationship Management Group. Additionally, she worked at Manulife Asset Management in the Institutional Investment Sales & Services Group, holding roles in Product Management and Client Relationship Management. She began her career as an analyst in the Investment Policy & Research Group at John Hancock.
Full biography here.

Gloria Pais
Research Analyst, Institutional
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Gloria Pais
Research Analyst, Institutional
Gloria is a Research Analyst in the Institutional practice, specializing in research and consulting related to institutional investors—including defined benefit plans, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, healthcare organizations—and third-party allocators, such as consultants and outsourced chief investment officers (OCIOs).
She contributes initiatives and the Institutional Investor Research Collaborative (IIRC), which provides asset owners with intelligence to equip investment leaders with research to the production of three annual reports and The Cerulli Edge—Institutional Edition.
Full biography here.

Christopher Swansey
Associate Director
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Christopher Swansey
Associate Director
Christopher is an associate director on the institutional team where he leads the annual Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) report and supports various strategic consulting projects throughout the year. He has previously led the annual Institutional Markets and Insurance General Accounts reports. He also leads the Institutional Investor Research Collaborative (IIRC), a research effort focused on connecting with and learning from institutional investors.
Christopher was a Senior Analyst at Mercer working within their executive compensation consulting practice before joining Cerulli in 2018.
Full biography here.

James Tamposi, CFA
Associate Director
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James Tamposi, CFA
Associate Director
James (Jack) is the lead author of The Cerulli Report—North American Institutional Markets and sets the agenda for The Cerulli Edge—U.S. Institutional Edition. Jack has led U.S. market entry strategy and U.S. institutional pricing optimization projects, supporting both foreign and domestic asset managers. During his time at Cerulli, he has contributed to reports across Cerulli’s suite of institutional research, focusing on topics such as insurance general accounts, outsourced chief investment officers, alternative investments, and U.S. subadvisory.
Prior to joining Cerulli, Jack worked as a Research Associate for Chatham Partners.
Full biography here.

Agnes Ugoji
Analyst
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Agnes Ugoji
Analyst
Agnes is an Analyst in the Institutional practice, specializing in research and consulting related to institutional investors—including defined benefit plans, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, healthcare organizations—and third-party allocators, such as consultants and outsourced chief investment officers (OCIOs).
As an analyst, she supports data processing, analysis, and survey management. She contributes to the Institutional Distribution Dynamics, North American Institutional Markets, and Outsourced Chief Investment Officer reports, as well as The Cerulli Edge—Institutional Edition.
Full biography here.COLLABORATE
Cerulli’s Institutional Investors Research Collaborative
Cerulli’s Institutional Investors Research Collaborative (IIRC) provides asset owners—endowments and foundations, corporate defined benefit, public defined benefit, health and hospital systems, and insurance firms—intelligence to arm investment leaders with research and data to validate investment-related recommendations presented to board and committee members.


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Outsourced Chief Investment Officer Survey
The Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) remains a niche area of the institutional marketplace yet continues to grow at a faster pace than the overall institutional space. Use our latest insights to understand why the OCIO model is expanding and the types of institutions that are adopting the model.