Funds need to offer something different

From a marketing perspective, too many small funds and even mid-tier sized funds are fundamentally failing to position themselves effectively. 

There is a clear correlation between good marketing and positive sales. While on the other side, poor marketing or no marketing - which all too often is the case - is only ever going to see a dripfeed of new investment flows, if any.  

Investors today are after good ideas and smart managers. Few want their money to sit idly on the sidelines, so it is up to a manager to whet the appetite, and to give them that something extra.  

Any asset manager that is setting up their own business is clearly confident and the likelihood is they have some sort of track record and interesting pedigree. Yet too often this does not come across, which sells themselves very short.  

We are now in markets that suit alternative investment strategies, in which you will see big winners but also big losers. 

Alternatives are about taking that alternative approach, which means they should not be pitched as a standard long only business.  They must offer something different to justify the fees.

Unless a manager is chasing pension investment, they are generally expected to run with higher risk and higher conviction, and make this part of the pitch/ story and why they believe that this makes then stand out. 

Today, it is not about following the crowd, but about reading the macroeconomic tea leaves.  

Many investors are uncomfortably liquid and are very aware that in real terms, every year their cash will lose a significant portion of its value.  Funds therefore need to be out there presenting their wares, outlining where they see the alpha and how they are capturing it.  

A fund that lacks the resources to be positioning their business and sell their products is just not effective. In which case, managers should look to platforms, hire marketers and/or work with third party marketers. 

Large funds have a magnetism that smaller funds cannot emulate, which is why they need to offer something of greater interest and shake as many trees as possible. 

To raise funds, you need to be out there actively presenting a story that is you, you need to look right, be making the case of why you are better than the other 1,000 funds in your space and you need to offer something different.