Portfolio leadership ready before the plan starts.
A value-creation plan is only as strong as the person who delivers it. For the first months after completion that person is often not in place.
How a hold loses its first months
After completion, four things tend to slow the plan:
The owner-manager was the whole function
After a sale, the founder steps back and the company finds out how much sat in one head.
Reporting was written for the last owner
The company keeps reporting the way it always did, while the fund wants a different view straight away.
Employment is built to last
A permanent appointment is slow to reverse, so sponsors want proof before they commit.
A need with an end date
Integrations, systems rebuilds and carve-outs call for a senior operator who stays until the work is finished and then leaves.
Operators are in the portfolio company within weeks, engaged on a services agreement that follows the length of the hold. A fund can bring in the collective for one defined workstream, as cover until a permanent hire starts, or to learn what a company really needs before recruiting.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- Deploying a senior operator inside a portfolio company
- Executing a 100-day plan the moment the deal closes
- Value creation through the hold, not another advisory report
- Building reporting, systems and management credibility before an exit
- Operational diligence and leadership-gap assessment before you buy
Not for
- A strategy deck or set of recommendations to hand back
- A business that wants an adviser, not an operator inside it
- Pure diligence with no operator deployed afterwards
- A mandate for oversight rather than hands-on execution
Our role through the hold
A sponsor needs to know the seat is covered and governed. We stay involved with the board and the executive after the match.
Governance the board can see
We take part in progress reviews against the value-creation plan, and flag slippage while the hold still has time to absorb it.
Carve-outs and integrations covered
When the plan calls for a carve-out or a systems rebuild, your operator can test it with colleagues in our collective of 800+ who have done one.
A change of operator, managed
The engagement belongs to the portfolio company. If the operator moves on, we hold the brief and the plan, and run the replacement search and handover.
Matched to the hold
We match on the workstream, the holding period and the seller who may stay on. The wrong temperament costs a quarter the fund cannot spare.
Across the PE investment lifecycle
From pre-deal to exit preparation.
Pre-deal: operational due diligence
Embed a Fractional COO or CFO to support your ODD. They identify gaps your model hasn't priced.
Post-acquisition: fill the leadership gaps
Begin deploying the right operator within days of instruction. No recruitment pipeline, notice periods, or trial risk.
Value creation: operational improvement
Build financial infrastructure, operating cadences, commercial engines, and professional people structures.
Exit preparation: build credibility
A Fractional CFO producing clean board reporting and investor-grade financials is a meaningful credibility signal in any sale process.
The value-creation matrix
Each value-creation lever maps to the operator built to own it. Most plans pull two or three at once.
Portfolio company leadership options
Match the right fractional operator to the specific portfolio company need.
Operating partners to
