Industry leaders shared views and insights on top issues including the industry’s evolving culture, how to be competitive in today’s challenging environment, and more at the All-Council Fall Summit. IMEA Members can catch up with presentation slides and an attendee list.

HIGHLIGHTS | All-Council Sessions

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
Ben Phillips, Head of Asset Management Global Advisory Services | Broadridge Financial Solutions

SPONSOR THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Lee Kowarski, Vice President, Head of Distribution Solutions | SS&C Technologies | Distribution & Data Council Sponsor

Individual Executive Council Session Highlights

Data Council Highlights
THE PATH TO DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION – DEFINING ROLES, BUILDING BRIDGES & MAKING DATA ACTIONABLE
The availability of data is almost endless, and asset managers’ ability to interpret and act upon this data is crucial in developing marketing strategies and producing sales leads. The Data Council discussed how marketing and sales can align to capitalize on the data acquired through digital distribution.

Featuring

• Jim Keenan, Vice President, Marketing | AMG Funds
• Stephen Edwards, Vice President of Distribution Intelligence | AMG Funds
• Matt Machut, Managing Director, Global Head of Sales Strategy and Enablement | Goldman Sachs Asset Management
• Tracy Roediger, Head of Data Led Distribution for Retail | Macquarie

Highlights

• Data collected from digital distribution gives marketing and sales teams insights into customer journeys and profiles and, when analyzed properly, qualified sales leads. Though marketing and sales teams sometimes have different priorities and KPIs, the common goal of identifying and capitalizing on qualified sales leads should influence how these teams “score” data to then develop go-to-market strategies and better sales enablement.
• The concept of “sales” now extends beyond one team; the integration of marketing, sales, investments, and product is crucial in defining truly qualified leads versus one-click leads. Top of the funnel marketing data (website visits, email opens, targeted ad clicks, etc.) can be scored and delivered to sales, along with insights into specific products or resources investors may have expressed an interest in.
• The COVID-19 pandemic not only accelerated digital distribution, but it changed the way retail investors research and buy products. Retail investors often conduct thorough research before even entering a manager’s website; creating a sales enablement model that tracks and scores these customer journeys — and provides actionable insights to sales — is key to delivering a tailored sales experience.
• The pandemic also highlighted the need to broaden the concept of territories beyond just geographical regions. Given that most sales models are now hybrid between digital and in-person conversations, asset managers should consider if digital sales territories can augment geographical territories.
• Asset managers may see a greater adoption of desired sales behaviors and actions if sales trainings are conducted by members of the sales team. Marketing and technology can work with key members of sales to create the sales enablement model and then have these members in turn train the rest of the sales team, while showcasing their success stories.

BUILDING A MAR-TECH ECOSYSTEM
A successful mar-tech ecosystem combines and delivers on the objectives of marketing, sales, IT, and the executive suite. It often requires the integration of various software and systems and needs to be adaptable to deliver on the evolving needs of each business. The Data Council explored where to start in developing such an ecosystem and best practices by firms whose mar-tech ecosystems have been years in the making.

Featuring

• Tom Bruno, Director, Global Product Management | SalesPage
• Nathan Oppedahl, Director, Digital Experience | Thrivent Mutual Funds
• Amanda Gallagher, Director, Head of Technology Strategy | New York Life
• James Staines, Senior Manager, CRM & Digital | abrdn

Highlights

• Building a mar-tech ecosystem requires a large investment of both time and resources but when built strategically it can align and deliver on various business needs. Asset managers must start with clear objectives, such as defining goals around data segmentation, data analysis, and prioritization, as well as the user experience for sales and marketing teams.
• In creating a mar-tech ecosystem, asset managers may need a variety of software and systems to gather, store, and analyze data, though they must ensure that each system is integrated into a seamless end-user experience. Systems such as Salesforce, Eloqua, Snowflake, SalesPage, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data lakes are used by some asset managers to achieve desired functionality. Diversifying the number and type of systems you use can also help manage software costs in the long term.
• Asset managers need to create a model that is flexible and adaptable and that delivers useful actionable insights for sales and marketing. Data scoring is key in providing these teams with the best leads possible, and it may make sense to regionalize or evolve the scoring model over time as more data is analyzed.
• Sales teams need to be confident in the data they are receiving — involving sales throughout the development of the ecosystem will help ensure that the output is implementable and actionable. Define phases for development and deliver in increments; it’s crucial to find the quickest path to adding value (whether it’s generating qualified leads or providing sales with more granular information to customize their sales conversations) and then enhance and refine over time.
• In making the case for a mar-tech ecosystem to executive management, the costs must be viewed as a long-term investment. Though the operational costs (the cost of the software as well as the internal resources required to implement, operate, and maintain the software) are high, it’s important to weigh them against the risks of not utilizing such an ecosystem. 

Distribution Council Highlights
DO YOU HAVE AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN?
Alternative assets continue to grow in importance for both investors and asset managers. This discussion explored the distribution landscape for alternatives, including the industry’s opportunities, challenges, outlook, and more.

Featuring

• Shane Clifford, Senior Managing Director, Alternative Strategies | Franklin Templeton
• Neil Bathon, Partner | FUSE Research Network

Highlights

• Alternative strategies — ranging from private equity, hedge funds, private credit, real estate, and other non-traditional investments — continue to be key growth drivers for asset managers, particularly as firms attempt to offer these strategies to the mass affluent market.
• As fees continue to be compressed for public equity and fixed income strategies, fees for alternatives have remained more resilient. This is especially the case for truly unique and capacity-constrained strategies.
• While alternatives still represent a relatively small allocation for private investors, alternative assets are on pace to represent 50% of all asset management revenue by 2024. If performance fees are included, alternatives have already surpassed this amount.
• For home offices and other gatekeepers, risk mitigation is still the chief concern, especially as alternatives are increasingly marketed to investors with little or no prior exposure to illiquid assets. Education will be key to clearly articulate the benefits and risks of alternative assets, including limits on liquidity and other issues that are more likely to occur with non-public assets.
• Building a strong alternatives brand will separate the winners from the losers in the space. Some of the major alternatives players already have a huge lead in this area, but traditional long-only managers seeking to make their mark still have an opportunity to do so. But they need the right people, marketing, product set to differentiate themselves.
• Firms that are launching or enhancing their alternative offerings need to offer truly unique strategies in the right vehicle formats to increase their probability of success. Home offices and other gatekeepers would love to be consulted prior to new product launches to make sure that vehicle structures and other considerations match the needs of their advisors and clients.

TALENT WARS FROM THE FRONTLINES OF DISTRIBUTION
Senior leaders from executive search firm Ridgeway Partners shared insights on the latest trends facing distribution executives, including evolution of roles and skills in demand, compensation trends, and progress in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in the industry.

Featuring

• Hari Krishnaswami, Managing Director | Ridgeway Partners
• Michael Fitzgerald, Partner | Ridgeway Partners
• Kevin McKeon, Partner | Ridgeway Partners

Highlights

• The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted how employees in asset management approached their relationship to work. Major trends that transcend the industry — including a re-evaluation of work-life balance, “the Great Resignation,” “Quiet Quitting,” and other factors — all had major impacts on sales, client service, marketing, and other client-facing investment professionals.
• While recruiting took on prominence as many distribution professionals sought new roles over the past two years, the focus for asset managers has shifted to retaining talent, particularly the top 10% of performers.
• As markets have been volatile this year, the environment favoring candidates may be coming into better balance. However, the job market still remains tight, especially for in-demand roles in alternatives and other major strategic areas.
• Ridgeway Partners identified the “four Cs” that drive employee engagement and employee retention: career, commitment, culture, and compensation. Firms have a better chance of holding onto employees by:
  • Providing clear career paths for their new hires.
  • Demonstrating a commitment to inclusiveness and fostering employee growth.
  • Offering a compelling value proposition and allowing for flexible work arrangements.
  • Properly incentivizing their workforce and rewarding top performers.
• DE&I efforts continue to increase in importance. More than 50% of Ridgeway’s asset management placements in the past 12 months were for diverse candidates. Asset managers need to ensure that their interview panel is diverse as well, or else candidates may look elsewhere for opportunities.

Data & Distribution Council Sponsor

 

Marketing Council Highlights
CUSTOMER JOURNEY MARKETING
Client journeys are an opportunity for asset managers to boost ROI with automation, and for marketing and sales teams to produce qualified leads together. Building successful journeys requires sales and marketing to align on strategic goals, and an investment in data talent and resources.

Featuring

• Tara Giuliano, Chief Marketing Officer| Nuveen (Moderator)
• Mike Cogburn, Director, Retail Marketing | Putnam Investments
• Diana Ruszkowski, Director, Head of Retail Client Experience | Franklin Templeton
• Elizabeth West, Vice President, Channel Marketing | MissionSquare Retirement

Highlights

• The client journey begins at building awareness with digital ads and targeted keywords to drive advisors to the asset manager’s website and offering content to capture email address for email nurturing campaigns. The next goal is to track which content and tools the advisor engages with; enough interactions will result in a qualified sales lead.
• Some firms take a step back to create a client “lifecycle” with various phases such as awareness, prospects, education, product consideration, nurturing, and retention. Then, a client journey with specific content and CTAs is created for each phase of the broader lifecycle. Some firms have as many as nine phases of the client lifecycle and create different journeys based on the channel: retail, advisors, institutional, etc.
• Many asset managers are having success using webinars during the client journey. Although some advisors say they have webinar fatigue, data says advisors continue to engage with webinars as a preferred medium of content and education.
• Gathering and analyzing data properly is one of the biggest challenges of creating effective client journeys as data talent doesn’t always have a good understanding of how the asset management business works. When analyzing data, correlation doesn’t mean causation.
• On the journey to a qualified sales lead, an important task for asset managers is determining how to score all the different interactions: email opens, website visits, length of website visits, content downloads, etc.
• Sales and marketing need to align on the strategic goals of client journeys, including new clients, client retention, cross-selling existing clients, etc. Client journeys and marketing plans based on business needs and goals can help marketing avoid being order-takers and help sales prioritize the marketing resources they want.

EVOLVING MEDIA STRATEGIES IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING LANDSCAPE
Maximizing media ROI is even more important heading into a possible recession when marketing budgets may be at risk. Asset managers with strong media campaigns ensure their data is clean and robust for accurate insights and strategy, use third-party data sources, and more.

Featuring

• Keith Bernard, Assistant Vice President | Nationwide (Moderator)
• Heather King, Senior Consultant, Paid and Owned Media | Nationwide
• Sebastian Jakob, Head of Strategy | VettaFi

Highlights

• In economic downturns, marketing teams need to justify media spending with accurate ROI as marketing budgets are often cut first. And the industry needs to catch up with other industries like retail to establish relevant and precise ROI metrics.
• Customer data must be clean and organized to integrate and automate it, pull in online and offline data for insights, and create the best message for each customer type. Everyone needs to use the same taxonomy on data and consistent naming conventions.
• Generally, asset managers understand the buying journeys of advisors and investors on the website, but not the journey before they get there. It’s helpful to learn how advisors get to your site to properly segment them and learn what to do when they enter your website.
• Use targeted ads to see what advisors are interested in before they get to your website based on a product/fund, for example, and see where they came from. Unique redirect URLs can be used to see what media tactic drove them to the landing page and if they took action, such as downloading a brochure.
• Audience segmentation and customer data is usually based on an asset manager’s own web properties; it’s a natural place to start, but firms can also leverage third-party data sources for audience segments like self-directed investors and financial advisors. Having enough data to make good decisions can be an issue, so third-party vendors can augment the data from managers’ websites.
• The holy grail is measuring and understanding how an advisor made the journey to your website to buy your product to justify ROI, but it’s difficult to filter out the noise and other influences on the advisor along the way.

Marketing Council Sponsor

 

Product Council Highlights
SMAs – THE FUTURE OF PERSONALIZED INVESTING?
As advisors look to deliver greater levels of personalization and tax efficiency for clients, SMA sales have grown about twice as fast as mutual funds since 2017. SMA fees and minimums continue to decrease, so these vehicles are poised to continue gaining market share for investors across asset levels. The Product Council looked at the marketing, distribution, and operations challenges facing asset managers as they scale and expand their SMA offerings.

Featuring

• Dennis Gallant, Associate Director | ISS Market Intelligence
• Matt Caulfield, Chief Revenue Officer | Archer
• Nick Elward, Senior Vice President, Head of Institutional Product & ETFs | Natixis Investment Managers
• Dustin Sidhu, CFA, Investment Strategist | Parametric

Highlights

• It remains to be seen just how far down market SMAs will go, as technology and competition continue to reduce fees and minimums. In addition to figuring out the economics of smaller accounts, asset managers need to decide what levels of service and customization make sense to provide for various customer segments.
• Values alignment can mean much more than just ESG overlays. As ESG becomes an increasingly polarizing issue, asset managers can emphasize SMAs’ ability to reflect an investor’s unique beliefs and interests.
• Even though direct indexing dominates much of the attention and asset flows, SMAs provide a huge opportunity for active managers. This is especially true for managers with highly differentiated strategies.
• Scaling SMAs isn’t just about technology and operations; asset managers need to scale their SMA distribution capabilities. This requires training wholesalers who are used to selling funds on the nuances of SMAs and having a team of SMA product specialists.
• Service is a critical differentiator for SMA delivery. In addition to streamlining the onboarding process, SMA providers need to be highly responsive in executing redemption requests and answering advisors’ questions. These service requirements illustrate the challenges of scaling SMA delivery.

ETFs – WHERE DO YOU FIT IN?
The growing popularity of active ETFs raises important questions for asset managers about how they can curate their lineups of ETFs and mutual funds and bring new products to market. The panel explored decisions asset managers face in terms of fund construction, pricing, and product development.

Featuring

• Neil Bathon, Partner | FUSE Research Network
• Michael Curtis, Executive Director, ETF Product Team | JP Morgan
• John Feyerer, Head of ETF Innovation & Enablement | Invesco

Highlights

• Since the introduction of semitransparent active ETFs more than two years ago, uptake by the industry has been slow. But that could change as these funds hit their three-year anniversaries, making it easier for them to get on platforms.
• Cloning mutual fund strategies as ETFs can create a host of regulatory, marketing, and commercial challenges. To avoid outright cloning, asset managers can create elements of differentiation between mutual funds and related ETFs, such as allowing the ETF to go further down the market capitalization structure.
• Pricing ETFs relative to mutual funds is part art and part science. Asset managers need to account for the different mindsets of mutual fund buyers vs. ETF buyers and be able to justify pricing differences between mutual funds and ETFs based on similar strategies.
• When converting mutual funds to ETFs, the focus needs to be on creating a seamless experience for investors. This requires extensive collaboration with custodial platforms and broker-dealers to think through the many implications of a conversion.
• Successful ETF product development is the result of finding white space and being able to quickly bring products to market. Launching ETFs as part of an entire suite has become less common over the past decade as the proliferation of funds has reduced the amount of white space in the market.

Product Council Sponsor

Highlights provided in partnership with Wentworth Financial Communications.