Authentic Stories for Investment
There is a paradox which lies at the heart of the investment management industry.
On the one hand, our industry demands asset gathering for business success. No matter what the fee rate, x% times 0 assets will translate to zero revenue. However, on the other hand, the level of spin involved in much fund marketing often leads to client dissatisfaction. Oversell a "sure thing" proposition, pitch investors on the thing that is "too good to be true" and the reward is brick bats, bad headlines, and, in extreme cases, trouble with the law.
Selling clients on a story, to raise money, to invest in a sure thing, seems like a great plan until the client money is gone, and the complaints pile up.
In extreme cases, the one consolation prize might well be a movie:
(Source: "The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) film", Wikipedia)
They say there is no such thing as bad publicity, unless you do time in jail. Then comes the chance of redemption, which can come to those who take it, and own the damage caused.
This is the eternal story of market excess, which we see played out over time.
Every investment firm must gain the attention of clients, with a pitch as to why they are the best in the game, but it is a game where the slickest story is no surefire thing.
It should come as no surprise that story-telling is the story of many successful investors:
(Source: "Warren Buffet", Wikipedia)
Warren Buffet delivered 500,000 copies of the Washington Post as a paper boy. He made so much money off investing the proceeds of that paper-round, that he bought the company.
Well, a piece of it... there is enough that is true in my rendition to make it a great story.
Warren Buffet is a master of the home-spun investor story because he is authentic.
Who would not relish the irony of becoming the richest person in the world after starting out as a humble paper-round delivery guy who moved to the Big Smoke from Nebraska?
领英推荐
When you put it that way... you, me, everybody.
So, there is the paradox:
Everybody in the investment management industry would like to tell a good story.
but,
Everybody who is a prospective client would like to find those investors who are authentic.
I say this because I like to tell stories, but am a well-known marketing phobic.
I don't know why that is. I did break my leg once when I fell out of a tree after being greeted by a happy black Labrador. However, I was never bitten by a fund marketer.
It is clearly a phobia.
There are always solutions to such problems of the mind and motivation.
You could go do a course in digital marketing.
I chose the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree and this is my assignment.
If you enjoyed the story, please like this blog, and share it :-)
?#IminDMND rocks!