Reserve One Holdings research

Operating Model Design for a Holding Company

How to divide responsibilities between the parent company, portfolio companies, and shared services.

Published July 28, 2026Original material

Start with decision rights

Define which decisions belong to each operating layer.

Centralize repeated risk

Security, privacy, and deployment benefit from shared standards.

Keep customer decisions close

Product and pricing should remain with the operating company.

Create exceptions

Standards need a documented variation process.

Review as the portfolio grows

Structure should evolve with scale and complexity.

Methodology and limitations

This framework should be adapted to industry, regulation, consequence, and company stage.