So many heads of marketing discuss with me, “Data-driven or creative-driven. Which one are you?” Perhaps, you’ve faced this dilemma when seeking a philosophy and were pushed to choose one direction for your business. Gone are the days of … Continued
Driving in winter means driving through all the elements – snow, rain, sleet and slush – oh so similar to business. A major correlation is when the road isn’t smooth and dry. When hitting a rough patch of snow, most … Continued
Mutual Funds endured a lot of attacks in 2015. Predictions of their demise have been more than just premature. Yes, many have suffered huge outflows, but many have experienced inflows. In fact, based on ICI data, Mutual Funds were basically … Continued
The world has already embraced, and many have mastered, the ETF formula. ETFs are the fastest, and frequently, the most economical way for an investor to express their investment thesis in a single trade. Proof? The industry took in an … Continued
Last year, we published our 2015 Hedge Fund Predictions. This year, Hedge Funds are joining Private Equity, VC, Real Estate, Liquid Alternatives and everything else that doesn’t fall under traditional long-only stocks and bonds. Our first prediction is that all … Continued
Q4 is well underway. Taking the Seinfeld “approach to time,” eliminating weekends and holidays, discounting the days preceding and post holidays, we have around 15 business days left in the year. The clock is ticking, and soon enough, the next … Continued
Influentials are the people who shape opinions, and motivate prospects to buy your product or service, or to avoid it. In many industries, especially financial services (e.g. institutional and financial adviser channels), it is a very small community. It is … Continued
As a former allocator, my “manager” email inbox is still frequently flooded with factsheets. These are consistent communications between managers (marketing and sales), intermediaries (consultants and financial advisors) and asset owners (institutions, funds of funds and individuals). Factsheets, when well … Continued
The coldest winter of my life was the summer of 2015 investing in hedge funds. I have relied on Mark Twain’s famed words, to make a point. If your fund was positive for August, or near breakeven, congratulations. You did … Continued
The challenge is to increase, to move up. But what, and by what measure? Most senior level people within marketing tell me that their objective is revenue. Some say it’s about brand and brand awareness, and the rest will take … Continued