RHI

What RHI does

Robert Harrell Incorporated (RHI) is an independent, fee-only investment consulting firm founded in 1991 by Robert L. Harrell and headquartered in Austin, Texas. The firm provides fiduciary investment advisory services to 31 institutional clients, primarily in Texas, spanning public and private pension plans, Taft-Hartley plans, endowments, foundations, family offices, and defined contribution plans. Client portfolios under advisory range from $18 million to $29 billion in assets, covering the full institutional spectrum from small public plans to large trust departments. RHI maintains a strict conflict-free posture: no affiliations with insurance companies, broker/dealers, actuarial firms, accounting firms, custodian organizations, or investment management organizations, and it accepts no fees or commissions from investment managers.

RHI's service portfolio centers on Investment Consulting Services delivered across five specialized modules (Defined Benefit Plans, Defined Contribution Plans, Endowments & Foundations, Family Offices, and Taft-Hartley Plans), with optional Supervisory Investment Services that include daily portfolio monitoring and discretionary fiduciary responsibility. The technical differentiator is RHI's proprietary Factor Analysis Methodology, a multi-factor research framework that decomposes investment manager returns into quantifiable factor exposures to isolate alpha, complemented by a Four-Factor Manager Evaluation System used for ongoing manager monitoring. RHI's clients are the sole beneficiaries of this research and the sole source of its revenue, generated through recurring advisory and consulting fees under custom-negotiated arrangements.

The firm operates with a lean team of approximately 8-12 professionals and is 100% employee-owned, with President and COO Sandra Larsen Harrell holding the majority ownership position. RHI is SEC-registered as an investment adviser with a spotless Form ADV and HUB certification. Go-to-market is relationship-driven rather than marketing-led: client acquisition relies on professional reputation and referrals within the Texas institutional investment community, supported by selective public positioning through press releases and presentations to bodies such as the Longview City Council and TEXPERS.

Name

RHI

Legal name

Robert Harrell Incorporated

Website

https://harrell.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Robert Harrell Incorporated (RHI) is an independent, fee-only investment consulting firm founded in 1991 in Austin, Texas, providing objective fiduciary advisory services to 31 institutional clients including pension plans, endowments, foundations, family offices, and Taft-Hartley plans, primarily in Texas.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Institutional Investment Consulting

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Investment Management Advisory (RIA) (FSAEAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Portfolio Management–Led RIAs (Discretionary/Model-Based) (FSAAACAC), Corporate Retirement Plan Advisory RIAs (ERISA 401(k)/403(b)) (FSAAACAF)

Keywords

• Institutional investment consulting
• Fiduciary advisory services
• Pension plan consulting
• Manager evaluation research
• Portfolio monitoring services

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Investment Advisory and Consulting Fees: RHI generates revenue through investment consulting and advisory fees charged to institutional clients. The firm operates as a fee-only adviser with no conflicts of interest, accepting no fees or commissions from investment managers. Client fees are the sole source of revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Robert Harrell Incorporated (RHI) is an SEC-registered, independent investment consulting firm that provides objective, conflict-free fiduciary advisory services to institutional clients. The firm delivers investment policy design, manager evaluation and selection, performance evaluation, and daily portfolio monitoring (including discretionary supervisory services) across practice areas such as defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, endowments and foundations, family offices, and Taft-Hartley plans. All advisory services are supported by proprietary factor analysis research tools developed internally.

Product overview

Robert Harrell Incorporated (RHI) is an investment consulting firm offering a unified suite of fiduciary advisory services. The core offering is Investment Consulting Services, which encompasses specialized modules for Defined Benefit Plans, Defined Contribution Plans, Endowments & Foundations, Family Offices, and Taft-Hartley Plans. RHI also provides Supervisory Investment Services with daily portfolio monitoring and discretionary responsibility acceptance. The firm differentiates through its proprietary Factor Analysis Methodology for investment manager evaluation. All services are delivered through direct consulting relationships with institutional clients, primarily in Texas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Investment Consulting Services Core consulting offering providing objective, conflict-free investment advice and fiduciary services to institutional clients (pension plans, endowments, foundations, family offices, Taft-Hartley plans), utilizing proprietary research tools based on academic findings.
• Defined Benefit Plan Advisory Advisory services for public and private defined benefit pension plans, including fiduciary responsibility acceptance, evaluation of investment management organizations, and daily portfolio monitoring with optional Supervisory Investment Services.
• Defined Contribution Plan Advisory Advisory services for profit sharing and 401(k) plans including recordkeeper selection, plan option analysis, diversification strategies, quarterly monitoring, and objective measurement of risk-adjusted performance.
• Endowments & Foundations Advisory Investment consulting for endowments and foundations with expertise in investment policy design, spending policy analysis, manager evaluation and selection, and performance evaluation to help achieve established rate of return objectives.
• Family Office Advisory Advisory services for family offices addressing intergenerational wealth management with long-term investment strategies including strategic asset allocation, manager guidelines, and portfolio rebalancing.
• Taft-Hartley Plan Supervisory Investment Services Supervisory Investment Services for Taft-Hartley Plans including daily monitoring of trust investment portfolios, acceptance of discretionary responsibility, and management of investment managers under joint trusteeship.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 34 years of operation with consistently low client turnover

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Callan LLC: Callan is a U.S. investment consulting firm serving institutional clients with manager research, performance evaluation, and fiduciary advisory services—directly comparable to RHI's service offering across pensions, endowments, and foundations.
• NEPC, LLC: NEPC is an independent, employee-owned investment consulting firm advising public funds, corporations, endowments, and families—closely mirroring RHI's independent fiduciary model and institutional client mix.
• RVK, Inc. RVK is an independent investment consulting firm specializing in institutional clients including public pensions, corporate plans, and endowments—directly analogous to RHI's service offering and client profile.
• Marquette Associates: Marquette Associates is an independent, fee-only investment consultant for institutional clients, offering manager research, performance measurement, and asset allocation—matching RHI's conflict-free positioning and core service lines.
• Verus Investments: Verus is an independent investment consulting firm serving institutional clients with manager research and OCIO services—closely comparable to RHI in independence, client mix, and consulting methodology.
• Cambridge Associates: Cambridge Associates serves endowments, foundations, pensions, and family offices with investment research and advisory—comparable to RHI's institutional client base, though operating at significantly larger scale.
• Meketa Investment Group: Meketa provides investment consulting and OCIO services to institutional investors including public pensions, Taft-Hartley plans, and endowments—directly overlapping RHI's full institutional client roster.

Broad incumbents

• Mercer Investments: Mercer is a global consulting powerhouse providing investment advisory across pensions, endowments, and insurers—overlaps with RHI's services but operates broadly within Marsh McLennan rather than as a niche specialist.
• Aon Investments: Aon provides institutional investment advisory, manager research, and OCIO as part of its broader risk and HR consulting platform—competes with RHI for large institutional mandates but offers an extensive adjacent service suite.

Regional players

• Mercer Capital (Litman Gregory-style boutique) / Asset Consulting Group: Asset Consulting Group is a St. Louis-based independent investment consulting firm serving institutional clients—a comparable mid-sized independent fiduciary competing in adjacent geography to RHI's Texas stronghold.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RHI