Grow AUM: The single most important thing a fund manager can do

Even after reading this, most managers will brush it off as the ramblings of a crazy person. However, I challenge you to slow down and really process the comment.  It really is big thinking.  

So, what is it?

Managers need to embrace the marketing process. That’s it.

In this industry, marketing is viewed as a necessary evil, something forced upon it by nefarious financial gods.

Show me a leader in any discipline that thinks poorly of his or her own discipline.  Did Jordan hate basketball? Did Einstein brush off science? And was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. only mildly interested in equality?  No!  All three were deeply passionate about the endeavours they pursued.

The bottom-line is: that it is impossible to be good at anything if you approach the skill begrudgingly.

If you are going to be a good marketer, it starts when your feet hit the ground in the morning.  You need to look at the world through an entirely different lens. Once you do, you will start to notice that there are a lot of people out there doing the same thing you are doing, with equal if not better performance.  It will soon become obvious that an institutional investor’s appreciation for your firm extends far beyond your 52 page powerpoint deck. Hell, you might even understand why a good website matters.

Summing things up, nothing will change until you change.

By Kyle Dunn