Beyond Manager Beauty Contests

At the end of the manager selection process, many investment committees conduct a final round of interviews, the so‑called ‘beauty contest,’ disliked by many managers because of its superficiality. This method of selection can be dissatisfactory for sponsors, as well. It misdirects fiduciary oversight, relieves consultants of accountability, and is symptomatic of incomplete and ineffective delegation of fiduciary responsibility.

This edition of our Fiduciary Insights series, Beyond Manager Beauty Contests, examines why these traditional final‑round interviews often fail to improve decision quality—and may even undermine sound fiduciary governance. The paper highlights the structural shortcomings of beauty‑contest evaluations and offers an alternative, research‑driven framework for making more rigorous, accountable, and effective manager hiring decisions.