The structural position comes first.
Reductive exists in the interval between capital and commitment. It defines the structural position and produces the brief that governs every adviser who follows.
Structural ambiguity becomes a cost once implementation begins without architecture. Reductive removes that ambiguity before capital is committed or mandates drift.
The first conversation is a gate, not a service. It exists to determine whether the situation is structural — and whether a full engagement is warranted.
It is not a review of existing investments or a search for product alternatives.
It examines how capital is held, where decisions are made, and whether the system is coherent.
There are three possible outcomes: no further work, a structural brief engagement, or a recommendation to resolve a specific issue elsewhere.
Structural Brief
The engagement produces a single instrument: the structural brief.
The brief defines the position to be implemented, the order in which implementation should occur, and the boundaries within which each downstream adviser is expected to operate.
The structural brief is not a report. It is the instrument by which downstream advisers are instructed. It places them into the client’s procurement process and prevents the client from being absorbed into theirs.
The structural brief contains:
- The existing position: a mapped account of the current structure across entities, holdings, responsibilities, constraints and adviser relationships
- The structural position: Reductive’s determination of what should exist, and on what basis
- The implementation sequence: the required order of operations, including dependencies and gating points
- Adviser mandates: defined boundaries for legal, tax, regulatory and implementation advisers, so each works within a defined architecture, not their own
- Residual risk and live constraints: what remains contingent, and which risks are accepted rather than removed
The review confirms whether the structure is holding. It does not continue the engagement.
It happens once a year, to identify drift, a material change in circumstances, or the need for a new engagement.
Where circumstances materially change after an engagement, follow-on work can be scoped separately.
Examples include a new liquidity event, succession or governance change, relocation or cross-border shift, or adviser reset following mandate creep or breakdown.
This work is scoped to the event. It does not extend the review relationship.