Division O · External Evidence Desk

Your external independent research and verification capability.

For organisations that repeatedly face material questions across deals, vendors, credit, legal work, claims, technology, risk or monitoring, without wanting to build the full capability internally.

The commercial model

ONE SMALL CHECK CAN BECOME A LONG-TERM EVIDENCE CAPABILITY.

Start with one bounded matter. If the organisation has repeated evidence needs, the relationship can expand across departments, entities, portfolios and monitoring subjects under an agreed monthly capacity and scope.

Typical path: one check → second matter → multiple departments → retained desk → monitoring → long-term account.

What the desk can receive

Defined research questions, verification requests, target or counterparty checks, claim testing, source audits, monitoring requests and other lawful matters that fit Aperture's evidence model.

Large or unusual investigations can be separately scoped rather than consuming the monthly desk unfairly.

Illustrative situation

Your team has several small questions each month

A team repeatedly needs original-source checks, event chronologies and short evidence notes, but each question is too small for a separate large investigation.

Can we agree recurring capacity with clear priorities and reviewable written answers?

What we would examine: Agree the desk’s scope and capacity. Each question gets a defined use, source record, human review and proportionate handoff.
What you could receive: A question log and scoped evidence notes or briefs, with unresolved matters carried forward explicitly.

How a finding could read, if the evidence supported it

This question has a sourced answer within the agreed scope. A related technical issue falls outside that scope and needs a separate specialist instruction.

Why this helps: Your team gets useful continuity while retaining control of the work authorised.

This is an illustration, not a completed client assignment or a finding about a real organisation. The actual evidence determines the result.

Indicative retainer bands

Scale the capacity to the evidence burden.

Evidence Desk Core

US$5,000/month

For a focused recurring stream of defined verification and decision-research matters.

Evidence Desk Plus

US$10,000/month

For broader multi-department or multi-entity usage with agreed priority and monitoring capacity.

Evidence Desk Embedded

US$20,000+/month

For organisations using Aperture as a recurring external evidence function across a substantial decision portfolio.

Indicative bands only. Final capacity, turnaround expectations, exclusions, monitoring frequency and specialist costs are defined in the written proposal. Major investigations may be quoted separately.

What makes this different from a generic research retainer?

Decision-led

Every task begins with the decision and material fact, not with a request to produce pages.

Independent

Aperture is an external evidence layer, not an extension of the internal narrative.

Cross-functional

The same evidence discipline can support multiple departments without turning into unrelated consulting.

Monitoring-ready

Completed findings can move into Watch where a material fact can change over time.

Relationship with DESK: the existing DESK product remains available for smaller retained research-capacity needs. The External Evidence Desk is the broader cross-functional, recurring evidence relationship.

Start with the recurring evidence burden.

Tell us what kinds of questions keep reappearing, who uses the answers and how quickly they normally matter.

Discuss an External Evidence Desk

Confirm the current scope and fee.

Any price indication on this page is orientation rather than a binding current quote. The accepted written proposal sets scope, source costs, review, currency, capacity and payment terms. Development-model prices do not constitute an approved specialist offer.

How engagement pricing is agreed