Blog

Pitch Books: 3 Dos, 3 Don’ts, and 1 Maybe

Posted by Mike McLaughlin on Aug 08, 2016, in Thoughts , tagged with ,

Few things cause more angst among institutional marketing teams than pitch books. At many of our clients there’s an ongoing, fluid dialogue focused on key execution issues:

  • What information is most critical?
  • What’s the right level of detail?
  • How should we structure the story?
  • Should we present multiple, related capabilities?
  • How much modification and customization should we allow on a case-by-case basis?

Several recent projects immersed us in a pitch book wonderland. So with that in mind I thought to share a few quick takeaways on what works and what doesn’t.

3 Things to Do

  • Include Case Studies: Roughly half of the pitch books we’ve analyzed contain a case study. When done well, these bring the investment process – which is among the least-differentiated content in a typical deck – to life by showcasing both the team and the specific way in which they operate.
  • Provide Context: A rare component across pitch books is broader macroeconomic or market context surrounding a strategy, which I see as a miss. Though it may not always be needed, including the bigger picture around a capability establishes its relevance, generates more buy-in for discussing its specifics, and communicates the firm’s overall expertise.
  • Reference Peer Data: A second infrequent element within the prototypical pitch book is peer data. As with macro / market context, incorporating how the strategy has performed and how key characteristics and risk measures match up with competitive offerings is an invaluable way to thoroughly educate a prospect.

3 Things to Avoid

  • A Process Funnel: As I referenced above, I think the investment process is often among the least compelling facets of the average pitch book. Nothing hammers that home more than the generic three or four-step funnel. Any presentation besides that is an upgrade.

Inv Process

  • Mammoth Team Slides: Do you have 85 fixed income PMs and analysts spread across 12 global offices? Fantastic. But nobody wants to see the entire org chart with names, titles, certifications, and other details. An overview of your organization is fine, but when it comes to team specifics focus on the core people that make the strategy go.
  • Opportunistic Performance Presentation: Occasionally firms will insert an outlier performance chart; something like rolling 3-month performance over a non-standard time period. I think this can hurt more than it helps, as unexpected presentations bring out skepticism (i.e., “why are you showing me this?”).

1 Thing I’m Unsure About: Reference Retail Success?

Some firms cite retail-oriented elements of a given strategy within a pitch book: AUM in the corresponding mutual fund, Morningstar ratings and other awards received by the fund, etc.

Most institutional marketers blanch at this retail infiltration, but I’m not so sure it’s a bad thing. I understand the concern of looking like a retail firm, but I also think it gives relevant and concise support to the overall message. Noting that the mutual fund has a 5-star rating, for example, will be quickly digested as a positive signal on the strategy overall by the average institutional investor.

I don’t feel strongly enough to say this is a definite “Do”, but I am confident that it’s not a definite “Don’t”.

The Top 3 Videos of 2016 (So Far)

Posted by Mike McLaughlin on Aug 08, 2016, in Thoughts , tagged with , , , , ,

Over the past few weeks I’ve spent A LOT of time looking at asset managers’ video content. I learned many things, but the most fun question to consider is a simple one: which videos are the best?

Below is a wholly subjective Top 3 list based on content posted to the YouTube catalogs of 25 firms since the start of 2016. Before we get there, a few quick thoughts:

  • There is a high-degree of sameness. Lots of talking heads covering lots of the same issues in similar formats. In fairness it’s not all that easy to be truly original with video in this industry.
  • Scripts are limiting. Having non-actors who are required to stick to a tight script is often a detriment in terms of being able to connect with presenters. Looser presentations have a little more snap to them.
  • Nothing is viral. It seems 98% of the video have view counts in the three figures (or less).
  • Production values are universally strong. Firms have mastered incorporating different angles, music, graphics, quick edits, and more.

That said, let’s get to the top 3…

3. Janus: Denver Pride Fest

So many firms have videos that TELL you about their culture. Voiceovers, brief looks at people in the office in various settings, you know the drill. This clip succeeds where those fall short – it SHOWS genuine aspects of the Janus culture. The video is only viewable on YouTube so click here or the image below to watch.

Janus

2. PIMCO: Asset Allocation for Equities in 2016

Over 25 seconds PIMCO uses one question, two statements, and two simple graphics to deliver its fundamental guidance on how the equity markets will go over the course of the year. No long-winded speeches, no multi-page paper… just a direct and clear message.

1. Schroders: Hidden Talent – Muy Thai

I am not sure how many topics would be more unexpected than Muy Thai in a video from an asset manager.

Golden Gate. Marketing a different perspective.

Two common traits of the industry’s most effective channel marketing teams

Posted by Anu Heda on Aug 08, 2016, in Thoughts , tagged with

In Naissance’s six-plus years, we’ve observed dozens of and occasionally been integrated into Marketing organizations. Integrating Mike & I into a team is the most flattering of client actions. Essentially our project sponsor is saying: I trust you enough to include you into my organization to make it better.

So through all these projects, I’ve observed two traits common to effective channel teams. These traits may not be universally applicable but they go beyond ideas like “hire smart”, “build a culture”, and “foster hard work.” By channel, we mean teams focused on the marketing needs of institutional, intermediary, direct, and occasionally DC audiences.

Trait 1 – Built foremost for efficiency. Effective channel teams accomplish tasks thoroughly and quickly. Rather than opine on roles, responsibilities, and organizational issues, or allocate time to big strategic challenges, they move quickly from problem identification to marketing requirements and into execution. In the intermediary channel, these tasks may include adding data points to fact sheets. Within institutional, effective teams quickly address issues such as updating RFP content. While there are times for more strategic analysis or introspective review, those times are far fewer than distribution organizations’ needs for efficiency.

Trait 2 – Optimized to continuously learn. Few teams allocate the time and resources to maintain collective, or tribal, knowledge. Many times, as the members of channel marketing teams turn over, past successes and failures are forgotten and thus (failures) often repeated. But the highly effective teams plan to maintain knowledge at an initiative level. This leads to high productivity and extremely effective interactions with Sales partners.

For example, imagine a new Head of Retail Sales joining a distribution team from another asset manager. She has a strong preference for fact sheets to contain a maximum number of portfolio characteristics and have a wholly different design. This could become a massive effort for a retail channel marketing team. A continuously-learning team can share from previous fact sheet renovation efforts with learnings that may showcase data refuting any benefit derived from those changes. In our experience, very few teams build in processes and tools to maintain and use initiative-level learnings. And to assume this will occur organically is naïve.

So as we enter the 2017 planning session (scary how quickly the year’s passing by), considering these traits may positively impact channel teams and the broader Marketing organization.

Best Blogs of the Week #242

Posted by Anu Heda on Aug 07, 2016, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , , ,

Four interesting posts this week highlighted by a game theory discussion via William Blair.

Franklin Templeton – Spotlight on Brazil– Once political stability is restored, tackling much needed structural reforms should be a priority, in our view.

Van Eck – Quality Can Be Rewarding in Emerging Markets Bonds – Overall, investors who maintained exposure to investment grade emerging markets sovereign bonds, with an allocation to BB-rated bonds or 20%, would have earned 7.55% over the past ten years versus 7.83% on the broader emerging markets sovereign index, with lower volatility and higher risk-adjusted returns as measured by the Sharpe ratio.

Vanguard – Do ETFs make the value of the underlying securities more expensive?–  … strong or weak flows into certain ETFs or categories do not inflate or deflate prices any more than mutual fund flows or the collective purchases of individual investors into stocks like Apple or Facebook. Rather, ETFs reflect the valuation of the underlying securities they are composed of, which is driven by the collective wisdom of all market participants.

William Blair – Dimensions of Influence Drive Game Theory Analysis – What does this have to do with investing? Game theory provides a way for us to better organize and process the vast amount of information that affects global economies and markets.

the 5-factor spider graph; a Mike McLaughlin favorite

 

Our Input into the 2016 Digital Virtual Council Roundtable

Posted by Anu Heda on Aug 01, 2016, in Thoughts

Last month, I participated in the MFEA‘s digital council virtual roundtable with 20+ industry attendees. I shepherded a conversation about blogging throughout the industry. The attendees asked 6 questions related to blogging and I thought to mention two here.

Question 1 – Should asset manager’s have multiple blogs (by channel or theme)? No, asset managers should have a single, well-executed blog (exceptions arising from situations such as having a very different businesses like recordkeeping or fund-of-fund manager selection). Most of our clients find maintaining a single blog difficult; a second blog would quadruple the difficulty. With a second blog, Marketing teams would need to reconcile author affiliation, brand delineation, and other strategic issues.

Question 2 – What’s missing in most industry blog posts? Most posts miss a “bottom line” or “key points” that are highly valuable to a scanning FA or institutional investor.

If you have specific questions, let me know and I’ll be happy to share the presentation and background data.

 

Roundtable