Serious engagements do not begin with a pitch. They begin with an honest assessment of whether the firm fits the work — and that is what this is.
A Capability Assessment is the firm's confidential first step with a prospective client: a structured review of fit, mandate, and engagement options, conducted before any commitment is made. It exists to answer the questions that should come first — whether the firm is the right one for the work, what the mandate actually requires, and how an engagement would be structured if it proceeds. It is confidential, it carries no obligation, and it is the most direct way to find out, honestly, whether and how the firm can help.
Most engagements begin with a vendor trying to win the work. This one begins differently — with an honest assessment of whether the work and the firm are a fit at all. A Capability Assessment is a confidential review the firm conducts before anything is committed: a structured read on whether it is the right institution for the mandate, what that mandate genuinely requires, and how an engagement would be shaped if it goes forward. If the firm is not the right fit, the assessment is where it says so. That is the point of doing it first.
The firm would rather tell a prospective client it is not the right fit than win work it should not. The assessment exists so that conversation happens first.
A Capability Assessment is handled by senior people, not a sales function — the same people who would stand behind the work. It is confidential, covered by the firm's standing discipline of confidentiality, and it carries no obligation: requesting one commits a prospective client to nothing. The aim is a clear, honest read — on fit, on what the mandate requires, and on the options — that an institution can act on, in either direction.
Share a few details and the firm will respond to qualified inquiries to arrange the review. The assessment is confidential and carries no obligation. Please do not include sensitive, confidential, or protected information at this stage — that is handled later, under the appropriate terms.
Neither should the institutions managing it. If the work is real and the timing matters, the assessment is the place to start.
Request an assessment