For unique and data-driven insights
Our Research & Analytics team tackles the complex, the nuanced, and the one-of-a-kind in a way no one else can. We go deeper than our standard subscriptions, drawing on proprietary data, specialized expertise, and industry access to deliver insights you can act on.
If you’re a senior leader in investments, strategy, administration, or finance and you need evidence to guide a decision, it’s time to ask our team your toughest question.
Research is most often commissioned by an individual fund, industry association, or academic institution with scope, approach, and timeline tailored to the question. It can also be commissioned by groups of funds, most easily through one of CEM’s Communities.
The best insights come from peers facing the same challenges you are.
Built for your situation, not a template
Every research effort starts with a conversation. We take the time to fully understand your question and its context before charting a path forward because the right answer depends on asking the right things first.
In most cases, we build from first principles. For specific needs like FTE forecasting and performance assessment, we have proven tools that can be quickly adapted and put to work.
Insights in a format tailored to your needs
- Annual in-person conference
- Commissioned research
- Survey-based virtual webinars
- Annual investment market webinar
- Best practice webinars
An excel-based tool to forecast future FTE needs across your front, middle and back office. Scenario planning allows testing AUM, asset allocation and investment approach.
Performance analytics package
Long term performance or outperformance distributions aligned with your investment department structure, measurement period and key targets.
Questions we've helped answer
Operating model design
How have performance and cost varied by operating model for funds our size and mix?
Asked by a $200B North American defined benefit plan
Team size & structure
Given my growth aspirations and asset mix, how many FTEs will I need in five years?
Asked by a $50 to $100B regional asset manager for multiple pension funds
Sector performance
How has REIT performance compared to direct real estate, by region, over the past decade?
Asked by the CEO of NAREIT, a U.S. based industry association.
Peer best practices
How do international peers value their private assets?
Asked by a top 5 Australian superannuation fund
Performance measurement
What benchmarks and timelines do peers use to assess PE performance, and would they have worked for our fund?
Asked by a $25B Canadian defined benefit plan
Talent and succession planning
How do digital-first Pension Administrators structure their teams?
Asked by a $200B+ North American defined benefit plan
Insights that made a difference
CEM has been a terrific and reliably steady partner in supporting CIEBA’s Annual Membership Profile survey and analysis for almost twenty years. Their team combines discipline, rigor, and a collaborative, easy‑to‑work‑with style that really helps us make sense of complex plan information. Over the years, we’ve appreciated not just their consistent execution, but also their thoughtful engagement and responsiveness to our Members as markets and needs have evolved. (Testimonial as of April 2026)
Partnering with CEM gives us fantastic insights into how our service and costs compare to our peers, helps to inform our decisions to drive service improvements, and gives independent and valued assurance to our key stakeholders. The value of the CEM peer network cannot be overstated, with access to talented and forward-thinking pensions professionals who are open, collaborative, and united in working together to drive better member outcomes.
