Request Private Consultation

Worked Examples

Anatomy of a mandate: three engagements, end to end

Process pages describe; worked examples show. Below: an off-market aircraft acquisition, a discreet collection sale, and a quota-bag sourcing — each traced from first conversation to completion, with the economics from our published schedule and timelines stated honestly. The details are illustrative composites; the discipline is exactly what a real mandate buys.

Written and reviewed by the Passion Asset Advisory desk · Last updated June 15, 2026 · Our editorial standards

Start Your Own The Process Behind These
Hands signing paperwork at a desk with a pen
Scope, fee, and side of the table — fixed before work begins.

Buy Mandate · Illustrative

The ultra-long-range jet that wasn't for sale

A family office needed nonstop Central Europe–Singapore capability. Public inventory: two airframes, both with records gaps.

  • The brief — sub-7-year ULR airframe, program-enrolled, no damage history, delivery within two quarters
  • The work — 14 candidates mapped; 9 off market via operator networks; 3 records reviews; 1 pre-purchase inspection at a facility of our choosing
  • The turn — inspection surfaced a deferred check; priced off, not papered over
  • Outcome shape — closed below ask, escrow-sequenced; the market never learned who bought
  • Timeline — 5 months · Economics — buyer-side commission per the published schedule (2–3%)

Sell Mandate · Illustrative

Six post-war works, sold without a catalogue

An estate needed a collection converted to liquidity — without the auction calendar or the publicity that comes with it.

  • The brief — six works, provenance largely documented, heirs aligned on discretion over speed
  • The work — provenance gaps on two works closed first; auction vs private modeled per work; four placed privately, two routed to auction where bidding genuinely served them
  • The turn — the "worst" work sold best — to the one collector whose gap it filled
  • Outcome shape — total realization above the all-auction model, net of everything; no public association with the estate
  • Timeline — 7 months · Economics — 10% on private sales, per schedule

Sourcing · Illustrative

A Kelly 25 in a leather Hermès retired years ago

A collector wanted one specific combination — discontinued leather, particular hardware — that surfaces publicly perhaps once a year, priced accordingly.

  • The brief — exact combination, excellent-or-better condition, full set preferred, no public hunting
  • The work — two candidates located through collector networks in six weeks; one failed physical authentication on hardware engraving; one passed everything
  • The turn — the failed candidate was the cheaper one; the discount was the tell
  • Outcome shape — acquired below the last comparable public sale, authenticated to the blind stamp, paid through secured transfer
  • Timeline — 9 weeks · Economics — 12% sourcing fee, per schedule

The eight-step discipline behind all three

Why publish examples instead of client names?

Because the names are the product we protect. William Blair can announce its M&A tombstones — corporate deals want publicity. Private individuals buying aircraft and selling collections want the opposite, which is why they hire us. So this page works the only honest way it can: composites now, consented tombstones as clients grant them, and never a recognizable engagement without written permission.

Frequently asked questions

Are these real transactions?

They are illustrative composites — realistic in sequence, economics, and timeline, with no real client's details. Actual engagements are never published without explicit written consent; when clients grant it, consented tombstones will appear here in exactly this format. A brokerage that publishes recognizable client deals uninvited is advertising its discretion problem.

Are the timelines and fees in these examples typical?

They reflect honest norms: months rather than weeks for rare assets, commissions from the published schedule — 2–3% buyer-side on aircraft, 10–15% sourcing on quota bags, 10–15% on private art sales — and outcomes that include walking away. Specific mandates vary; the engagement letter states yours before work begins.

Where is the office that runs these mandates?

In Main Point Karlín — Karlín's award-winning business center — at Pobřežní 620/3, Prague 8, ten minutes from Prague's old town. Meetings are by appointment, in Prague or wherever the asset and the client are; mandates are executed worldwide under the same confidentiality discipline.

Your Mandate

The fourth example should be yours.

Acquisition, sale, or sourcing — the sequence above starts with one confidential conversation and a scope in writing.

Request Private Consultation See the Full Process