PAICR wrapped up today with the traditional conference closer: a panel of asset consultants and a question and answer session.
It was an intense session...made slightly more so as the earth, or at least the building literally moved, during the final part of the session.
There was no more powerful example of the permanency and ubiquitous nature of social media as immediately post-tremor ("Are we safe here?") everyone hit the iPhone or Blackberry to find out what happened.
At the time of writing I still don't know whether it was just a very big train, a minor earth tremor or a collective moment of shared excitement about what the consultants had to say to the audience of asset management marketers.
Here are some highlights of the discussion between the PAICR audience and consultants Cynthia Steer (Russell Investments) and Bryan Decker (Clearbrook).
Q: So what of the (almost dreaded white paper)?
Maybe it's dead suggests one senior consultant. Give me, instead, they ask, short briefs. And your view on the implications of market movements - not more commentary on the movement itself. In other words, the condensed and value-added version, of your thought leadership.
Even better, be in the news. You need, says one consultant, to be in the FT. We want to see you, in these uncharted times, in the dialogue between the economists and the fund managers. There may not be a real pathway in this market but the conversation is important.
Q: What do you use manager websites for?
Not as much as we should, came the answer. Webcasts...and some other stuff. In uncertain times make sure your webcasts can deal with a higher number of attendees.
Q: What's your expectation on timing eg the US downgrade?
Bond managers better be fast with their guidance...even if it's not perfect. Same day is good. Two weeks later is probably useless. We don't mind if you get it a bit wrong, according to one panelist. But if it's cogent and clear, get it out regardless.
Q: What sort of communication works?
Update your PowerPoint book every six months in fast changing times. Show us how you've evolved your thinking.
Q: To what extent do the numbers tell a story?
If the qualitative data (team, organization structure, alignment) doesn't 'jive' the data won't get you there alone say the consultants. In other words, we've heard it all before: every new manager has a great track record. But, as just one example, how's the fit (or chemistry) between the fund and the CEO? And what's the full story behind, for example, the revolving door of new hires? Tell us the truth, not the spin. We've heard all manner of BS, so we're listening for the dissonant chord when something in the story doesn't quite match the rest. So don't bother with the glossy version...we'll take warts and all over that any day.
Q: How technical is too technical?
Well some new consultants might need the dumbed down version but if your consultant audience grew up in the swaps and derivatives market then show them the trades.
Q: Ever hired someone on simulated performance?
No. There's nothing like the taste of real money. Good and bad. As a consultant I remember that I'm there for the guy who may never earn more than 70k a year for life. Or an endowment that needs the money to fund their work.
Q: What should we do as we approach capacity?
For the first time we're at capacity constraints in a number of areas says one consultant. Yes, it's a real issue. And yes, we're open to you starting a new strategy. But give us the down and dirty version - the good reasons why it makes sense and why you think it will work. Because we've seen it go wrong plenty of times.
It's an interesting exercise in firm integrity. How you handle it is key. Particularly given we have our notes from the last ten years we've been meeting with you and hearing about your philosophy and what you've been saying about how you're going to manage money...and how much of it.
There's some beauty in staying exactly where you are today.
Q: If you're a manager with only two or three strategies how do you approach asset consultants?
Carefully!
Know exactly how your offer fits their need. Do your due diligence. Emphasize the advantages of being small. With capacity constraints in the market today you may well have an edge. But know who you are marketing to.
This is the final post from BlueChip Communication at the PAICR conference in New York on 22 and 23 August.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Social media breakout: PAICR 2011
Judging by the audience response in this session, most of us are using social media personally, but many are not there as financial services companies or institutions.
Pretty much the same as Australia. And pretty much, I'd suggest, a fleeting moment in time.
Deborah Well of Harbor Capital Advisors chaired the session that Vanguard's Eric Haberacker and I spoke at.
Newsflash...presentations by fund managers aren't watched a lot on YouTube but the eTrade baby is.
The Vanguard YouTube channel is a great one to learn from.
Here are a few things that make it work: videos are engaging, short and well produced.
Stay true to your brand, says Haberacker. Other guiding principles include being authentic, transparent and candid; one size does not fit all; keep in line with regulations; humanize Vanguard through content; be an investor advocate and "experiment-learn-evolve".
Three key considerations for Vanguard in making social media work are these:
1. Social media content impacts brand reputation - make PR a critical partner because they know and manage the company 'story'
2. Speed is critical - expedited turnarounds are the norm
3. Content classifications - static and interactive content can follow different approval processes
And today's inside tip: Do you have to spend $200k to get your own YouTube channel? No. AT least not if you're already doing business with Google.
I'm also tweeting (when coverage allows!) from the 2011 PAICR conference as 'Carden'.
Pretty much the same as Australia. And pretty much, I'd suggest, a fleeting moment in time.
Deborah Well of Harbor Capital Advisors chaired the session that Vanguard's Eric Haberacker and I spoke at.
Newsflash...presentations by fund managers aren't watched a lot on YouTube but the eTrade baby is.
The Vanguard YouTube channel is a great one to learn from.
Here are a few things that make it work: videos are engaging, short and well produced.
Stay true to your brand, says Haberacker. Other guiding principles include being authentic, transparent and candid; one size does not fit all; keep in line with regulations; humanize Vanguard through content; be an investor advocate and "experiment-learn-evolve".
Three key considerations for Vanguard in making social media work are these:
1. Social media content impacts brand reputation - make PR a critical partner because they know and manage the company 'story'
2. Speed is critical - expedited turnarounds are the norm
3. Content classifications - static and interactive content can follow different approval processes
And today's inside tip: Do you have to spend $200k to get your own YouTube channel? No. AT least not if you're already doing business with Google.
I'm also tweeting (when coverage allows!) from the 2011 PAICR conference as 'Carden'.
"I have no idea what I'm doing": the marketers' quandry
Welcome to online marketing in financial services. While the industry, for the most part, hasn't been fast to adopt digital marketing or social media, it's still bewildering territory at times.
"No corporate function has evolved more than marketing" said Razorfish's Ryan Alderman, quoting McKinsey (McKinsey Quarterly 09.2009).
It's no wonder marketers in financial services feel lost.
To do justice to the presentation, which was the best I've seen this year on social media, I'd have to share every slide and my own observations ... and will do so over the next few weeks with many of you.
Here is a taste of the insights shared by Alderman in today's opening session.
Financial advisers
An estimated 46 per cent of financial advisers own iPads (which were launched 18 months ago).
What they expect from their interaction with financial institutions says Alderman, is:
We are, according to a Harvard Business Review study, consuming 12 hours of media in a nine hour period - thanks to multi-channel simultaneous consumption.
The way our customers want to engage with us is different - and it's more likely to be about the conversation than the content on the website.
At the same time our norms around financial services are changing...consumers, says Alderman, are morel likely to share previously personal information about finance, including our choices, experiences and, critically, recommendations.
What does that really mean?
It means that thanks to our ownership of multiple devices, and the increasing availability of multiple media across devices we are splitting our attention across devices and using multiple technologies or devices at once. Maybe you're running a phone with email and browser at the same time as watching a webinar...and our customers are doing the same. Think here browsing the Internet or Twitter updates while watching TV.
The cost of attention just went up - massively.
Against this backdrop it's even more important for marketers to understand "context" as well as content.
Why "conversation" trumps broadcast...and paid
Some other numbers thrown out today spell the death, or at least decline, of paid media. I've yet to source these numbers so offer them with a health warning...
All that is well and good. But the fundamental goals of marketing haven't changed. How we go about achieving the goals has changed. And will do so, ever faster. So get learning.
And remember this says Alderman: advertising in not marketing - stop confusing them.
Marketing is now about creating brand engagement across media. So find an audience (don't create another destination or website), bring creative and technology together, learn from integrated analytics. And from those who've been before us.
Ones to watch?
At least in the United States, Alderman cites American Express (particularly for their small business digital marketing), Fidelity, Vanguard and Pimco.
How did they get there? Trial and error.
BlueChip Communication , Australia's leading financial services communication firm, is attending the PAICR conference (twitter #PAICR2011)
"No corporate function has evolved more than marketing" said Razorfish's Ryan Alderman, quoting McKinsey (McKinsey Quarterly 09.2009).
It's no wonder marketers in financial services feel lost.
To do justice to the presentation, which was the best I've seen this year on social media, I'd have to share every slide and my own observations ... and will do so over the next few weeks with many of you.
Here is a taste of the insights shared by Alderman in today's opening session.
Financial advisers
An estimated 46 per cent of financial advisers own iPads (which were launched 18 months ago).
What they expect from their interaction with financial institutions says Alderman, is:
- World class experiences regardless of channel (traditional or virtual)
- "Always on"
- Near real time relationships
- Multi-channel...everything. Communication, service, information. You name it.
We are, according to a Harvard Business Review study, consuming 12 hours of media in a nine hour period - thanks to multi-channel simultaneous consumption.
The way our customers want to engage with us is different - and it's more likely to be about the conversation than the content on the website.
At the same time our norms around financial services are changing...consumers, says Alderman, are morel likely to share previously personal information about finance, including our choices, experiences and, critically, recommendations.
What does that really mean?
It means that thanks to our ownership of multiple devices, and the increasing availability of multiple media across devices we are splitting our attention across devices and using multiple technologies or devices at once. Maybe you're running a phone with email and browser at the same time as watching a webinar...and our customers are doing the same. Think here browsing the Internet or Twitter updates while watching TV.
The cost of attention just went up - massively.
Against this backdrop it's even more important for marketers to understand "context" as well as content.
Why "conversation" trumps broadcast...and paid
Some other numbers thrown out today spell the death, or at least decline, of paid media. I've yet to source these numbers so offer them with a health warning...
- 75 per cent of people believe companies lie in ads
- 77 per cent trust financial institutions less than they did last year
- 38 per cent believe companies will do what's right
- 15 per cent of people enjoy the ads as much as the program - guessing that's TV only
All that is well and good. But the fundamental goals of marketing haven't changed. How we go about achieving the goals has changed. And will do so, ever faster. So get learning.
And remember this says Alderman: advertising in not marketing - stop confusing them.
Marketing is now about creating brand engagement across media. So find an audience (don't create another destination or website), bring creative and technology together, learn from integrated analytics. And from those who've been before us.
Ones to watch?
At least in the United States, Alderman cites American Express (particularly for their small business digital marketing), Fidelity, Vanguard and Pimco.
How did they get there? Trial and error.
BlueChip Communication , Australia's leading financial services communication firm, is attending the PAICR conference (twitter #PAICR2011)
Earthquake, social media and financial services
Boring picture, interesting moment.This (uninteresting) picture is of just before a minor earth tremor hit New York today.
PAICR delegates reacted with complete calm. The "after" picture would have looked the same with one big difference - everyone had their phones in ther hand checking twitter for what the hell just happened.
According to nearby tweets some New Yorkers evacuated their buildings.
Maybe so, but we sat tight. There were few native New Yorkers in the room, meaning most had plenty of personal experience from elsewhere in the U.S. of earthquakes.
Regardless, no one was really sure what the trembling tables, clinking glasses and shuddering floor actually meant, in the moment.
Personally I was eyeing the doorways, wondering how many conference goers might fit in each. Not many, the simple mental math suggested.
And then it crossed my mind, as I suspect it did others, for just a moment, that perhaps this wasn't an earthquake but something more frightening.
And at about that point everyone reacted. Some headed for the doorways, others reached for their iPhones or Backberries and some, like me, turned to the person next to them to see if they were thinking the same thing: minor earthquake.
Yes, the earthquake-experienced said, that sure felt like one. But no-one, least of all the conference organisers or asset consultant panel, actually knew. It clearly wasn't a subway-scale shake we'd just felt.
So where did everyone go for the actual answer? Twitter. Email. Google.
And in that lies the answer to an earlier question in the panel session I and others presented on social media.
The question was this: what possible use is twitter for an institutional asset management audience?
And the answer? As an immediate response to news events. With markets making headlines, and news media not alwways able to report the whole story, we're increasingly looking to information (such as twitter) that is direct from the source - and actually bypasses traditional media.
Just as the first reports about today's eathquake did. The Mashable coverage below is a good example of how citizen journalism, or direct reports leave traditional media for dead, in the moment.
The implications for brands are clear: social media gives you a golden opportunity to speak direct to audiences who matter most, WHEN it matters most. In the moment.
Here's how Pete Cashmore saw it on twitter.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Deborah Well, PAICR Social Media Chair
I'm currently attending the PAICR Conference in New York, and today I had the pleasure of interviewing Deborah Well, PAICR Social Media Chair, about the state of social media in US asset management.
In this four minute video she shares:
1. A summary of where social media use is at in the Unite States (early adopters, fast followers and, yes, plenty of laggards)
2. The opportunites for asset managers in using social media (hint: better broadcast of messages!)
3. Major issues for those seeking to use social media in financial services - with regulation taking the number one spot.
In this four minute video she shares:
1. A summary of where social media use is at in the Unite States (early adopters, fast followers and, yes, plenty of laggards)
2. The opportunites for asset managers in using social media (hint: better broadcast of messages!)
3. Major issues for those seeking to use social media in financial services - with regulation taking the number one spot.
Brand, and why it matters (A LOT) in asset management
About three quarters of institutional clients see brand as a critical attribute in deciding which fund manager or asset manager to sekect.
So the message is this: if you're a fund manager and you're not investing in brand, you better. Because it matters a lot to your potential clients.
And yet conventional wisdom is that brand isn't so important in institutional asset management. Time to re-think that one, suggest Cogent Research and Casey Quirk.
Cogent's research, presented today in New York, suggests two relevant brand ideas in asset management: brand equity (are you known and/or liked?)and differentiation (barriers or "table stakes" and drivers or "delighters").
So are you known by your potential clients? And if so do they like you as well? The research suggests that only 10 of the 38 institutional asset management brands assessed were both known and liked - in other words had achieved both high levels of awareness as well as favourable impressions.
Cogent shared some fascinating findings, including:
- fund manager attributes that are either table stakes or differentiators (email me for the list)
- the relative importance of each of the four key table stakes manager attributes
- why thought leadership material doesn't get read
- which five things can build your funds management brand in the new normal (if there is such a thing!)
BlueChip Communication is attending PAICR (twitter #PAICR2011) in New York today and tomorrow.
So the message is this: if you're a fund manager and you're not investing in brand, you better. Because it matters a lot to your potential clients.
And yet conventional wisdom is that brand isn't so important in institutional asset management. Time to re-think that one, suggest Cogent Research and Casey Quirk.
Cogent's research, presented today in New York, suggests two relevant brand ideas in asset management: brand equity (are you known and/or liked?)and differentiation (barriers or "table stakes" and drivers or "delighters").
So are you known by your potential clients? And if so do they like you as well? The research suggests that only 10 of the 38 institutional asset management brands assessed were both known and liked - in other words had achieved both high levels of awareness as well as favourable impressions.
Cogent shared some fascinating findings, including:
- fund manager attributes that are either table stakes or differentiators (email me for the list)
- the relative importance of each of the four key table stakes manager attributes
- why thought leadership material doesn't get read
- which five things can build your funds management brand in the new normal (if there is such a thing!)
BlueChip Communication is attending PAICR (twitter #PAICR2011) in New York today and tomorrow.
Bringing new asset management client aboard
Lazard Asset Management, Jennison Associates and MFS Investment Management shared their client on boarding and retention strategies at today's PAICR conference.
One global asset manager's on boarding for institutional asset management clients follows a checklist:
1. Welcoming package email: step-by-step review of funding process including required documentation, standard IMA templates, client profile/contact questionnaire form and more
2. Internal "pit crews": from legal & compliance to portfolio implementation & trading, team representatives hold weekly new account meetings to discuss each new client's on boarding progress and any possible issues
3. "Thank-you letter": a synopsis of funding details, reporting expectations, and relationship contacts post-inception
Another firm calls their client induction "transition management". Clients receive an overview of the transition process complete with pictures of team members, brief role descriptions and an image showing how the team will serve their clients.
A touch I really liked was the list of "next steps" information asked by one manager of their news clients. It includes questions about how the client would prefer the asset manager to communicate with them, and who the main contact will be during transition.
Please email me for full copies of the slides or to hear more about the Q&A.
BlueChip Communication, Australia's leading financial services communication firm, is attending the PAICR conference in New York for the fourth year (twitter #paicr2011)
One global asset manager's on boarding for institutional asset management clients follows a checklist:
1. Welcoming package email: step-by-step review of funding process including required documentation, standard IMA templates, client profile/contact questionnaire form and more
2. Internal "pit crews": from legal & compliance to portfolio implementation & trading, team representatives hold weekly new account meetings to discuss each new client's on boarding progress and any possible issues
3. "Thank-you letter": a synopsis of funding details, reporting expectations, and relationship contacts post-inception
Another firm calls their client induction "transition management". Clients receive an overview of the transition process complete with pictures of team members, brief role descriptions and an image showing how the team will serve their clients.
A touch I really liked was the list of "next steps" information asked by one manager of their news clients. It includes questions about how the client would prefer the asset manager to communicate with them, and who the main contact will be during transition.
Please email me for full copies of the slides or to hear more about the Q&A.
BlueChip Communication, Australia's leading financial services communication firm, is attending the PAICR conference in New York for the fourth year (twitter #paicr2011)
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