Hedge Fund Marketing and Advertising to Get Best Practices Guidelines
Bloomberg Alternatives Marketing Council formed after Hedge Fund marketing in 2014 ramps up
Last month Bloomberg announced the Bloomberg Alternatives Marketing Council – a panel of marketing, legal, and investment experts discussing the growth of marketing and advertising in the hedge fund industry. Following last year’s SEC decision to lift bans on hedge funds’ abilities to publically advertise, hedge funds have been moving to create comprehensive alternative investment brands that better communicate their investment strategies to select segments of the investor public—both retail and institutional.
Announced in a recent press release, Bloomberg’s council noted, “The need for hedge funds to begin defining marketing best practices is significant, given a changing competitive landscape…,” and “One estimate indicates as much as $12.8 trillion of U.S. retail capital may ultimately be in play.” With such a growing market, defining how to better communicate with investors using clear, authentic, and differentiated hedge fund advertising messages has become a widespread concern in the industry. Despite the rush towards branding, there remain a large number of managers who been reluctant to launch public-facing hedge fund websites, design differentiated brand messages or begin to advertise their alternative investment offerings.
At MBC Strategic, we are excited to see what kind of insights come out of the Alternatives Marketing Council, and how this will help shape the industry. Differentiating investment services can be a challenge in any segment, and hedge fund marketing and branding is no exception. Matt Brunini, Founder of MBC Strategic, noted, “We have seen the wave of hedge fund and alternative investment branding coming for a while. Just like in other industries, communicating what makes a fund, an investment strategy and an overall company culture different from your competition is of the utmost importance, especially in today’s climate where investors demand more transparency. We have been helping hedge funds and alternative investment shops with their branding and messaging strategy for more than a decade and we feel that this is a market segment that will continue to gain momentum.”
Read more about MBC Strategic’s recent investment marketing and branding projects to see how other investment segments are effectively communicating with investors and growing their business.