The Research Team is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the investment process. The team of  professionals is drawn from a variety of backgrounds including equity, fixed income and derivatives trading, hedge fund and fund of funds management, sell-side research and investment banking. Optima pursues a disciplined and transparent 4-step investment process. Investment proposals are formulated by the Research Department and approved by the Investment Policy Committee (IPC). The investment process generally consists of the following steps:

This is the result of formally developed strategy outlooks which are documented and revised quarterly. Tactical adjustments may be made to asset allocation in response to shorter term inputs and events.

A rigorous three-stage manager selection process provides a point of review at the completion of each stage which increases efficiencies by eliminating investment candidates which have not passed an earlier stage. Proprietary analytical manager ranking tools are an integral part of the manager selection process.

This step integrates both qualitative and quantitative elements in the process of portfolio construction and portfolio management.

A dedicated team of four individuals (including the Head of Portfolio Risk Management and the Head of Operational Risk Management) use approaches to risk management that are forward looking so as to identify problems early and take pre-emptive action.Risk is managed through multiple channels, including operational risk management, position level exposure aggregation, value at risk analysis,stress testing, risk factor modeling and through manager monitoring. Both internal risk personnel and an external risk firm (Bear Measurisk) are coordinated in a "belt and suspenders" approach. The process is supported on a proprietary technology platform supported by an internal team of code writers and technical support. The process is rigorous, consistent and documented, yet flexible enough to add new functionality and dimensions to it. The Risk Management team reports to Optima's CFO and has veto power over investment decisions.