FRC surveys the full spectrum of financial advisors to understand how the dramatic changes taking place in the financial services industry are affecting their business and changing the demands they make on asset managers and manufacturers. The report provides specific metrics around movement of advisors among channels, the impact of investment environment on their investment selections, and which of the newly released investment vehicles are deemed long-term opportunities or simply fads. FRC looks deeper into the evolving role of the financial advisor and interpret its impact on distribution efforts. This report provides the backdrop for marketing, products, and distribution efforts.
In this second annual examination of asset manager marketing efforts, FRC reveals what advisors are looking for from their business partners and what it working best. Over the past year, much has changed for advisors, asset managers, and clients trying to navigate the rough waters of the marketplace, and marketing efforts have become a key lever for asset managers to pull in developing relationships with their intermediary channels. Here we examine the elements of successful marketing programs and materials, new areas of development, and an in-depth look at advisor-oriented websites.
As the market evolves, the sub-advisory arena is no longer a small, niche business that simply straddles the retail and institutional markets. Sub-advised management has become part of the larger business of marketing investment management that can be used by many product structures—'40 Act mutual funds, collective investment trusts, separately managed accounts, ETFs, and institutional accounts. In this study, FRC provides an overview of the new product landscape, examines organizational structures, and reviews sales approaches of leading asset managers to assist firms in developing a more sophisticated strategy to market their investment management services.
