Every engagement is fixed fee or portfolio retainer. No hourly billing. No scope creep surprises. Cost certainty before work begins. The model is built so the firm absorbs the time risk, not the buyer.
A flat fee for the full scope, agreed before work begins.
Quarterly retainer for PE firms with multiple active TSAs.
Fixed Fee fits single TSAs, defined workstreams, and engagements with a clear deliverable. Portfolio Retainer fits PE firms running multiple TSAs across portfolio companies who need a continuous advisor on call. The two models can be combined where it fits.
Pre-signing review, mid-TSA renegotiation, exit acceleration, Day One readiness, or dispute resolution on a single carve-out. Fixed Fee is the default.
A PE fund with multiple active carve-outs at different lifecycle points benefits from a portfolio retainer. Continuous advisory across all engagements, single point of contact, quarterly review of the portfolio's TSA exposure.
Fixed Fee on the active TSA, with the option to convert to a portfolio retainer if a second carve-out closes within the engagement window. Negotiated case by case.
If the scope evolves mid-engagement, we write a new scope. We do not bill change orders against an open hourly retainer because we do not have an open hourly retainer.
A specialist firm is defined as much by what it declines as by what it offers. These three models exist elsewhere in the market. They are not part of the firm's offering. The reasons are about alignment.
We do not bill by the hour. Hourly billing aligns the advisor's incentive with running the clock. Our incentive is to land the outcome.
We do not offer gainshare, savings-share, or contingency fees. Outcome-contingent pricing creates incentives to chase headline numbers, not to do the right work on the file.
We do not accept vendor-funded engagements. If an IT outsourcer or BPO offers to underwrite the advisory fee, the buyer is not the client.
Hourly billing rewards time on the file. Fixed fee rewards landing the outcome. The buyer pays for a known scope, not for a running clock.
We write a new scope. The fee for the original scope holds. A new scope, separately agreed, covers the new work. No surprises on the invoice.
Gainshare creates incentives to chase headline numbers and to define savings creatively. The buyer's interest is in the right TSA outcome, not in the largest claimable saving. Fixed fee aligns the firm with the right work.
Proposal in 48 hours. Engagement begins within 7 days of a signed engagement letter. Most files have first deliverables in week two.
Yes. The first call is a working call. We assess the situation, identify the leverage points, and either propose a scope or tell you the firm cannot help.