Succession planning is one of the biggest challenges for any asset management firm, and especially so for those with a highly respected, successful founder or lead investment guru.
What happens when that person retires or leaves unexpectedly? Recently, for example, Bill Gross left PIMCO for Janus. Now ask yourself: is there anybody at PIMCO whose words will carry anywhere near the same weight?
If we look at the deluge of redemptions that occurred in the wake of his resignation, it doesn't seem likely.
In reality, PIMCO isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, as there remains a deep pool of talent which should ensure the venerable bond investing firm will remain a titan in the industry.
But what about a small boutique investment manager; one with a higher concentration of assets in a small pool of clients? What if the face of the firm passed away suddenly, or was forced to retire for either health or legal/ethical reasons? What would provide clients with reassurance that the firm’s investment process, philosophy, and performance would remain consistent?
An effective content marketing and related social media marketing strategy can help to assuage the concerns of clients and prospects that while the “Big Dog” may have left, the day-to-day management of the firm remains in steady, practiced hands.
How so?
For asset managers, the entire point of the content marketing exercise (creating actionable, usable content) is to advance a firm’s value proposition.
On a consistent, repeated basis, asset managers should use their content to establish and maintain a position of thought leadership in the industry, as well as reinforce their core message, which should always be some combination of:
- Who we are
- What we do
- How we do it
- Why we do it.
A thoughtful, consistent content marketing strategy can reassure clients and prospects that while the face of the firm will be missed, and the business will certainly lose something as a result, it will allow for other team members, ones the audience will know as a result of the distributed content, to blossom and move the firm in creative new directions.
When content creation is a shared responsibility across the firm’s portfolio management and investment research team, it demonstrates the sum of the asset management firm’s expertise and experience is much greater than the contributions of just one person.
