Asset management firms that don’t automate the investment data processes pay the price every quarter in the form of time-consuming manual work, as well as the risk of human errors. The costs – including the opportunity costs – add up significantly over time. At a recent webinar, we explored how asset managers can get off the quarter-end hamster wheel forever and achieve long-term ROI through effective data automation. Below are some highlights from the conversation.

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The shift from active to passive investing continues to drive significant change for investment management sales and marketing. In this article, investment marketing consultants Sandra Powers Murphy and Donna DiMaria explain what marketers can do to help their firms grow AUM in today’s challenging environment.

According to DiMaria, operational efficiency in sales and marketing has become imperative, and asset managers are taking note.

“Firms are looking to be more efficient, doing more with fewer resources both in terms of bodies and budget. And that is leading to consolidation, outsourcing, and automation. The status quo isn’t working anymore so, in a way, the market is recreating itself,” she said.

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Guest Post by Amy Watson at Red Oak Compliance.

Asset Managers are heavily focused on bringing in new business and attracting the right clientele. Compliance, while important, is something you’d prefer to have running smoothly in the background rather than disrupting your day-to-day flow.

However, an increase in hefty fines throughout the asset management industry means compliance needs to be front-and-center. To make the most of your resources and to ensure you’re not caught by surprise when regulators review your materials, you need to ensure you’ve built efficient, compliant processes that are easy for your team to understand and comply with.

One particular pain point we’ve heard about from clients: keeping sales team collateral up to date and books and records compliant across an organization.

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When meeting and consulting with clients, most investment data specialists refer to 5 datasets managers need to populate in their investment database profiles:

Performance, AUM, Holdings, Characteristics, and Personnel. These are the quantitative datasets. And yes, they are each very important.

However, we at APX Stream believe there are, in fact, 7-9 datasets for which managers need to account. These additional datasets include the qualitative narrative sets: Firm & Product Narratives, Firm & Product Personnel.

But it’s not simply a matter of checking these items off a list every quarter – to successfully execute a professional investment data marketing strategy, managers need to understand, not only the range of data points contained within each set, and account for them accordingly, but how they all work together to create a cohesive, data-driven story for your firm.

All the pieces must fit, and do so in a way that entices database subscribers (i.e. your future clients & investors) to pick up the phone or dash off an email inquiring about your portfolio management services.

So how should these pieces fit together and what are some ideas managers can employ to help improve their data marketing execution?

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