MBC Strategic helps produce investment marketing insights at ESG and Impact Investing conference

MBC Strategic recently helped produce and participated in an event about ESG (environment, social and governance) investing in downtown Los Angeles, in cooperation with CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analysts) Los Angeles and KPMG.

The team at MBC Strategic, a boutique financial and investment marketing and branding agency, helped produce the event, as well a series of online and print materials that covered the institutional and alternative investment approach to ESG and socially responsible investment strategies. Over 80 attendees showed up to learn more about the responsible investing space.

Panels spanned a range of topics across the ESG and Impact Investing, with the last panel dedicated to covering what investors want and need to hear from investment managers. MBC Strategic founder, Matt Brunini, shared his insights and experience in marketing funds alongside speakers from the Milken Institute, Wilshire Associates and Citi Investment Management.

In addition to discussing the increased need for transparency and authenticity in how you communicate your investment strategy, MBC Strategic shared its direct experience working on branding with a private debt impact investment manager, TriLinc Global.

See our recent work with TriLinc Global here

How ESG is Changing the Investment Landscape

Some of the biggest issues discussed centered around results, and whether or not ESG investing means lower returns. Currently, evidence supports that utilizing ESG factors allow a better understanding of risks associated with investments and tends to outperform non-ESG strategies. Reframing the discussion with investors that ESG is a tool in the fiduciary utility belt and not just a well-meaning screening process is important.

A representative from Citi Investment Management had some interesting real-world examples on this topic, with wide variations in the HNW investor audiences that she serves. Flexibility in messaging and investor education is key, as some individuals are discovering ESG for the first time and others have specific impact targets for their portfolios. This also paralleled MBC Strategic’s work with Gurtin Municipal Bond Management, a $14B municipal manager, which MBC helped rebrand, create a new website and built tailored content for an ESG strategy that they were launching. It was important to not just build their message as an ESG investment but articulating how it fit within their brand story. By doing this they were able to maintain more consistency in their messaging strategy and create more logical sales transitions for their UHNW clients interested in responsible investment options.

What Investors – even Institutional Investors – Want and Need to Hear

With over two decades of investment marketing experience, Matt was able to share his experiences in crafting and communicating investment strategies to diverse audiences including institutions, RIAs, consultants and family offices. Brunini noted, “Understanding both the rational and emotional drivers for each unique investor audience and using messaging specifically tailored to that audience has greatly benefited our clients in raising assets and differentiating themselves in the market. From institutional investors who care first and foremost about sufficient returns for their unfunded liabilities to family offices with more philanthropic and impact-minded mandates, it is critical to speak directly to their needs. Our combination of stakeholder interviews, client interviews and target audience analysis has been a powerful combination into developing a messaging strategy that resonates well across a range of ESG, SRI and impact investment marketing projects.”

Learn more about how developing a brand helps connect you to investors here

As a PRI Signatory, MBC Strategic and our team believes deeply in the underlying mission of responsible investing in creating a more sustainable financial system and are excited to help drive the conversation forward. MBC’s Business Development Manager, Niko DeCesare, is on the board of CAIA’s Los Angeles Chapter and was the main organizer for the event. If you’d like to learn more about our range of services to help articulate and market your ESG and impact investment strategies, contact the team at MBC Strategic. Contact us

Learn more about our commitment to ESG marketing and get in contact with us here.