Depending on the industry, 55 of all investment manager searches are led by consultants. On the other hand, unless an asset manager has visibility with consultants, they can only expect to participate in 20 of the institutional asset manager searches conducted in a given year.
If the asset manager's performance is above and beyond the competition, the results may beat those odds. Not surprisingly though, competition for institutional assets is fierce.
In the United States alone, there are more Registered Investment Advisors than there are publicly held securities. Pensions and Investments annually lists the top 1,000 asset managers worldwide.
Working your way into the approved lists for institutional asset manager searches requires a defined strategy for dealing with consultants.
Consultants work on behalf of the buyers. The good ones know everything there is to know about the market environment, competitors, pricing, technology, features and the reputations of various providers. Their mission is to match a buyer's needs with what is available among a dizzying array of options.
Consequently making a favorable impression on a consultant is crucial to winning and keeping business. Making that favorable impression is not hard. The answer is to have the right people on your team who have successfully managed a credible process over a reasonable period of time and to have this accurately registered in the appropriate databases.
Consultant databases have quantitative and qualitative aspects. The quantitative information required is straightforward. The challenge to completing the quantitative information is the lack of standardization across the 60 plus databases. Submitting data in various formats can be a tedious, resource consuming but necessary effort.
Qualitative information is conveyed in writing and in person. Investment philosophy and process narratives need to be submitted to these databases. These brief descriptions of how managers make money for their clients must be compelling and clear. They must also convey what a buyer can expect; in what kinds of markets will the strategy perform well? In what types of markets can the product expect to suffer? How is ownership distributed? What is the succession plan to replace senior employees and partners? And what is the client service philosophy?
Finally, beyond successfully managing a process and populating databases, creating an impression requires face to face meetings with consultants. Whether it is salespeople, portfolio managers or consultant relations specialists performing this function, someone from your company needs to meet in person with the research teams at consulting firms. The decisions made by consultants are done in much the same way you would select an accountant, neurologist or patent attorney; they look the manager in the eye, listen to their story and decide if it is believable.
It is a long process creating a successful investment product and growing - or building - a successful asset management business. Performance and perception in the eyes of the consulting industry are very important aspects of that process.
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