Asset Management Marketing Focus #6

Kurtosys expresses their best wishes to all starting in their new positions.

Website Spotlight: Payden & Rygel

We’ve seen asset management websites with eye-catching picturesque imagery, and micro-sites for ETF subsidiaries, but here’s an example of a finsite that has so much valuable content that its homepage is almost a one-stop company overview dispensary.

One of the largest privately owned investment managers in the US, Payden & Rygel, has gone the whole hog on its main page, making it a scrollworthy treat of company information. If you’re looking for the company’s AUM, extensive library of market insights and weekly economic outlooks and its range of funds, all can be accessed on the initial page, each easily accessible using call-to-action text on the top toolbar.

Our favourite aspects of this site, however, are the ‘Payden in Focus’ section, which includes video highlights linking to professional YouTube clips (and displayed with clear thumbnails), and the ever-important fund page.

Payden & Rygel’s US Funds and UCITS Funds are separated, each page displaying all relevant information including NAV figures, fund commentary and performance reviews, which can be toggled through with colour-scheme adhering buttons. There are also downloadable PDFs available, which usefully open up in a separate tab.

There’s a whole breadth of information available in an easy-to-use format for investors, making this another exemplary asset management website.

Fund(s) in Focus: REX Shares

Oooooh yes indeed. As ever, our Fund in Focus section seems to be riding high on multiple weekly waves of interest in Bitcoin ETFs, and REX Shares are seemingly announcing themselves as the Duke Kahanamoku of this niche investment space (“The Duke” is hailed as the father of modern surfing, by the way).

And once again, we’re proud to report on not one, but TWO funds to have been filed with the SEC, both by REX Shares to help investors get either long or short exposure to the Selena Gomez of cryptocurrencies (she’s the most followed/popular person on Instagram anyway).

In brief, one is called the REX Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the other, REX Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF. And whilst they do not offer the opportunity to invest directly in Bitcoins, they do provide the knowledge of its peak-and-trough price movements, which change constantly.

There is no knowledge, as of yet, whether this filing has suffered the same fate as other SEC Bitcoin ETFs (not a good one…), but perhaps this may buck the disappointing trend. Nonetheless, we’ll be sure to keep you up to date on the increasing significance of Bitcoin ETFs.

More information: Coindesk | ETF Trends | Investing.com

MiFID II News

Whilst MiFID II News has been fairly quiet in the past few weeks, there’s no way that the issue is going to leave us forever.
In an innovative experiment from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TMX) and National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the UK known as the ‘Atomic Ledger’ project, an accurate timestamping method is being used to record trading transactions.

The data gathered is logged by the lab’s atomic clocks, sent to a central clearing house and written onto a ChainZy distributed ledger.

With UBS reportedly having signed a deal with the NPL for a dependable timestamping service, it is clear financial institutions could view this breakthrough as a perfect way for transparency in transaction history to be achieved, to comply with MiFID II: coming to asset management firms this January.

Further information: Finextra

Industry Merger?

A first in our Asset Management Marketing Focus (AMMF), here’s some news about a bidding war for a merger with an asset management firm; such an illustrious industry issue needs a spotlight moment.

As reported by CityWire Wealth Manager, Tilney Group has offered an all-cash proposal for Smith & Williamson, which has already been planning a merger with Rathbones.
In an ongoing battle-of-sorts, this is simply a speculative article, but filled with multiple figures about AUM and necessary market values. At the very least, this news brands the asset management industry as some sort of Westeros: all of this allegiance talk is the perfect filler for the hole left after the Game of Thrones Season 6 finale. We despair.

Social Media Spotlight: CBRE

CBRE manage to present all of their various Twitter accounts through their main page. These include regional accounts to show the company’s region-specific market news, such as CBRE Americas or CBRE Asia, but also CBRE Women’s Network, a channel dedicated to the promotion of women in the industry and beyond.

“We strive to make a difference in our industry and beyond.” #cbrewomen #cre #womensequalityday pic.twitter.com/HeIUuUoVqa

— CBRE Women’s Network (@cbrewomen) August 26, 2017

Much of CBRE’s posting, as a global real estate and investment services firm, is set on locations and travel. For investment interest, CBRE Capital Markets has created a #CapitalWatch campaign to, for instance, look at the increasing demand for hotels…

#CapitalWatch – Hotel demand has just reached an all-time high in the U.S. https://t.co/w9LafzXNHd @CBREHotels @CBREResearch #CRE pic.twitter.com/x76VAwPX1D

— CBRE Capital Markets (@cbrecapitalmkts) August 30, 2017

…whilst also tweeting infographics looking at investor trends across the globe.

Asian cross-border investment surged by 98% y-o-y to US$45.2 bn in H1 2017 https://t.co/9RhSmLgeEm @CBREResearch @cbrecapitalmkts @CBRE #CRE pic.twitter.com/WXCktHCysb

— CBRE Asia (@cbreasia) August 29, 2017

With the increasing look towards environmentally-friendly real estate, CBRE focuses much of its photographic content on naturally-minded buildings, especially via Instagram.

Considering the wealth of real estate investment worldwide, CBRE certainly has a lot of content and marketing materials to promote via social media, which they clearly do well through the channelling of various accounts through one central Twitter hub. For global wealth managers, this is certainly a useful technique.

And finally…

…in a ‘Fortune 40 Under 40’ style, Financial News has produced a slideshow roundup of the brightest sparks in the European asset management sector to keep on your radar.
Ok, there are 25 and not 40, but many of these candidates are recognised for running multi-asset strategies and promoting their firms’ continued efforts to attract investors, from such managers as Columbia Threadneedle, JP Morgan Asset Management and Amundi. Their work-based commendations are given, as well as few little-known facts about each, making for an entertaining ‘Meet the Team’ style feature.
And, whilst we slowly shift from summer’s end to more autumnal evenings, what better way to relax in front of the fireplace than with a few FinServ-inspired puzzles? Financial Services Marketing has collected 4 for our pleasure, comprising of a crossword about stocks, the WSJ’s Bitcoin knowledge quiz, a game which will also help you to manage your finances and an investments back-to-basics (or is it?) tester from CNBC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Maybe Christmas has come early in 2017!
That’s all for this week, but be sure to check back soon for more asset management marketing highlights and fintech snippets from Kurtosys.