Thoughts

Alternative Products and the Importance of a Hook

Posted by Mike McLaughlin on Oct 11, 2011, in Thoughts , tagged with ,

Take a look at the overview of alternative funds from AQR:

Then, go one step further and look at the initial presentation of the investment approach for the Managed Futures Strategy Fund:

We all know marketing alternative vehicles is difficult. The diversity of strategies, and the still-limited knowledge of many advisors and investors will continue to be significant roadblocks.

But the AQR example also highlights an important issue: initial presentations of alternative vehicles often lack a hook. There is no element that specifically calls out why I should delve into the complexities of this fund.

I don’t really watch a lot of cooking shows, but I’ve seen enough to know that the show almost always begins with a preview of the fully-prepared dish. That’s the hook. That’s why you’ll stick around for 30 minutes and invest your time in the details of the ingredients and process.

People’s lack of familiarity with alts means they’ll need to invest extra time to understand them. This reality gives elevated importance to the initial hook, and alternative providers need to focus more on putting their best foot forward.

A StarTAC revival for the ultra-connected set…

Posted by Anu Heda on Sep 27, 2011, in Thoughts , tagged with

Do you remember the great cellular phone of 1996 – the Motorola StarTAC?  I remember the easy user interface and durability (flights of subway stairs were no match for the StarTAC).

Anyhow, during a massive flight delay, I got to chatting with two seasoned sales people from the enterprise software industry.  Each had a laptop, iPad, & BlackBerry.  And as they bestowed knowledge upon me, I got to ask them how they use the different devices (note: all devices provided by their employer), what they like/dislike about the tools, and how the tools changed sales.  Significant opinions and knowledge provided!

Afterwards, it became clear to me that with the ubiquitous (albeit slow) Verizon iPad, they had relegated the BlackBerry to be, well, just a phone.  They didn’t like the tiny screen and the massive scrolling to look through all their emails.  And both commented on the lightness of the iPad – they proclaimed to take it everywhere.

So perhaps the next evolutionary step is to make the tablet more robust and the phone less so.  Perhaps Motorola can revive the StarTAC for the ultra-connected employee.

Discussing Mobile … soon

Posted by Anu Heda on Sep 22, 2011, in Thoughts , tagged with , ,

Next month, we’ll be presenting at the MFEA eCommerce conference in Chicago.  It’s a privilege and we’re looking forward to the event overall.

We’ve been reaching out to our e-Business network in order to understand if there are common struggles.  From those conversations, two topics we’ll definitely cover include:

  • Mobile sites versus apps for devices
  • Just product information? product PLUS thought leadership? Maybe something else?

Interestingly, there’s not much concern on building for Android.  Many firms with (or pending) iPad/iPhone apps plan on migrating to Android in quick fashion.   Seems like firms are starting with the Apple platform and then adding Google afterwards.

Mike will make this an engaging 45 minutes.  If you’re on the fence about attending, let us know and perhaps a cocktail or beer with Mike could sway you to make the one-day trip.

Content as Journalism, not Marketing

Posted by Mike McLaughlin on Sep 22, 2011, in Thoughts , tagged with , ,

Asset managers typically have experienced writers on staff. Yet most of our clients struggle to consistently produce as much compelling content as they’d like.

In most cases the challenge is not a lack of ideas but difficulty in execution. We hear things like:

  • There are tons of opinions floating around this place. We just can’t harness them all.
  • We have great ideas, but all of those ideas ultimately turn into 10-page PDFs.
  • Our process for producing a piece of content simply takes too long.

When I look at these issues, I think about newspapers, magazines, and blogs. These entities live (and die) by their ability to consistently create compelling content, and succeed only by overcoming the problems voiced above.

That leads me to ask: what if investment firms treated content-generation as journalism instead of marketing?

Consider that there are important differences in the ways journalists produce content when compared to marketers. There are editorial structures, processes, and a pacing associated with journalism that simply don’t exist within asset management marketing teams, even if some of the same skill sets do.

Why not incorporate these advantages? Have 1-2 people serve as “staff writers”, and make it their full-time jobs to create a constant stream of content. These writers could:

  • Attend all important firm events (conferences, conference calls, Webcasts, sales meetings)
  • Interview all portfolio managers on a quarterly basis
  • Consume industry press and competitors’ content

Then let the source material guide the output – in some cases short blog posts, in others long-form papers. A journalistic mentality means you let the idea and process dictate the nature of the output. Even with a dose of attrition (pieces that ultimately fail), I think content production would improve for most firms.

Impact of Confirmation Bias

Posted by Anu Heda on Sep 14, 2011, in Thoughts , tagged with

Over the last month or so, I’ve been thinking a lot about confirmation bias.  I’m not sure exactly why, it may be from following the debt crisis too closely.

I’m not thinking about bias in a statistical sense.  More in how we attain, review, digest, & seek information.  A prototypical example of this seems to be:

Person believes that reducing government is a good idea.  He regularly seeks out the Wall Street Journal.  He enjoys reading the columnists.  Those columnists often cite the Cato Institute.  Over time, he develops a strong, positive opinion of the Cato Institute.  Next time he needs/wants economic data, he visits the Cato Web site.

Understanding all of us have a confirmation bias may lead to better marketing and selling.  If a wholesaler goes into a meeting (or begins a telephone call) with questions to understand the advisor’s decision-making process, then he may glean a bit into their confirmation bias.

Imagine an introductory question like, “Historically, how have you decided to add a new fund into your most commonly used fund lineup?”  If the advisor answers with performance and attribution analysis preferred from select third-party providers, then the sales team can lead with a detailed performance review, provided by that third-party provider (or something similar).  If the advisor answers with process and portfolio manager interest, than leading with investment decision-making information and PM team tenure is a better lead.

Understanding confirmation bias is just one tool to improving sales and account management.