So what is thought leadership? It is the ability to offer innovative and relevant ideas to clients. But crucially, thought leadership is more than marketing – it is, after performance and service, perhaps where institutional clients gain most value from engaging you as an asset manager. After all, beyond your own product, your thought leadership efforts are a way to demonstrate you're thinking about your clients' issues, not just your own.
At the recent PAICR conference in New York (that’s Professional Association for Investment Communications Resources) I was fortunate enough to hear from some of the best in the business - Vanguard, PIMCO, MFS Investments (the asset manager not the people who hit the headlines) and T Rowe Price.
Rather than synthesise what they said here's the top line version (less than 30 seconds each) of PAICR's packed session from three of the four panellists themselves.
Thought leadership: more than you think
Thought leadership and brand
Eugene Colter, Director of Messaging and Content Marketing Communications, PIMCO
The things that matter most
Sean Spaulding, Director of Investment Marketing, MFS Investments
So, why thought leadership?
Because it creates brand loyalty via stakeholder engagement to increase sales and maintain retention.
Because it keeps your clients coming back to have further conversations.
And because you can't have portfolio managers constantly talking to clients - they have money to manage.
Nice video for representation of PR
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