AB

Is Custom Publishing Pertinent to Asset Management?

Posted by Anu Heda on Dec 28, 2015, in Thoughts , tagged with ,

As 2015 winds down, I’m thinking of interesting marketing initiatives seen this year. Custom publishing from AB came to mind. The above piece is from October and custom published through Pensions Expert in the UK. This effort succeeds on three levels. The piece:

  1. Introduces and/or strengthens the firm’s relationship with a magazine’s audience (U.K. Pension managers).

  2. Shows AB’s commitment and knowledge about U.K. retirement issues .

  3. Aligns AB with well-known industry experts such as AON Hewitt, adding credibility.

Is custom publishing right for every firm? It’s hard to say, yet if a goal is building relevancy in a new channel in a growth region, then this could be a solid technique to consider.

Best Blogs of the Week #204

Posted by Anu Heda on Oct 05, 2015, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with ,

Best returns after a one issue hiatus. We have three posts from the previous two weeks to share covering China and multi-asset strategies.

Think Flexible with Emerging Markets –AB

“A midyear sell-off in emerging-market stocks highlighted the challenges investors face in volatile times. We think a flexible approach that spans the asset classes can help.”

Rethinking ‘safe haven’ assets multi-asset portfolios –Invesco

“While volatility may provide an additional diversification resource to investors, it is by no means a panacea — investors shouldn’t expect volatility instruments to completely replace other diversifying assets.”

An all-market approach to investing in China –Invesco

“In this changing investment landscape, we are seeing a growing trend toward investors adopting an all-market approach to investing in China.”

Best Blogs of the Week #196

Posted by Anu Heda on Jul 27, 2015, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , ,

All three posts this week cover important international situations.

Shopping for Bargains –AB

Russia’s economic woes have driven down both labor and real estate costs—the big players’ two largest operating expenses. This should make it cheaper for them to open more stores in future—providing yet another boost to their consolidation prospects.

Looking past Greece –Invesco 

The Chinese equity market has declined sharply over the past month, with the Shanghai Composite Index off 34.9% from its June 12 high to a July 9 low. This decline is on par with the 1987 US stock market crash, but has yet to reach the depths of the 2007 sell-off in China or the US financial crisis of 2007 and 2008

Exploring the Frontier of Emerging Markets –Wisdom Tree

Although frontier markets can be considered a subset of emerging markets (EM), they also have low correlations to the rest of the investable marketplace.

Nothing New Under the (Visual) Sun?

Posted by Mike McLaughlin on Jul 23, 2015, in Thoughts , tagged with , ,

We recently completed a project on asset managers’ visual branding strategies: the way a firm’s logo, color palette, and imagery tells and reinforces the value proposition (or, in some cases, fails to do so).

Among the firms we focused on were AB and Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management. Why? AB’s massive rebrand from January 2015 represents the type of overhaul we simply don’t often see in the industry. And few firms talk as much and as publicly about their visual brand as Deutsche Bank.  … [read more]

Thought Leadership Arms Race Is On

Posted by Anu Heda on May 27, 2015, in Thoughts , tagged with , , , , ,

There’s omnipresent discussion (in the news, from asset managers, by wealth managers) of the 5-year long bull market in US equities. Reading this month’s Mixing It Up from Shefali Anand reminded me about the bull market. There’s another bull market. The asset management industry is experiencing a bull market in thought leadership. It’s easy to understand why: with so many investment options available to financial advisors, thought leadership becomes an important method of building brand recognition and becoming that coveted “trusted partner.”

Today, many asset managers are producing thought leadership in quantities never seen before. Let’s just look at 2015 volume to-date from five, well-known asset managers.

thoughtleadershiptableWhat are the obvious takeaways?

  1. Unless Marketing executives believe thought leadership to be a fad, standing on the sidelines is longer an option. Yet some firms continue to do so, publishing 1 or 2 thought leadership pieces per quarter.
  2. Introducing and populating a blog with multiple posts per week from different investment team members is no longer optional.