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The Online Advantage: Findings from the Advisor Perspectives Mutual Fund-Site Survey

Written by on April 6, 2013 in Articles - No Comments

Published by Advisor Perspectives

By Nina Eisenman and Jeff Briskin

April 2, 2013

Faced with products that are constantly falling in and out of favor, fund companies find it increasingly challenging to gain advisors’ loyalty. New research from Advisor Perspectives shows that offering outstanding online research and due-diligence capabilities is key for fund companies that wish to win the competitive battle for the time and attention of financial advisors.

Fund company websites are the third most common source of fund-related information used by advisors, the research shows, and the quality of a fund company’s online capabilities plays an important role in advisors’ decisions to use a company’s products. And while tablets and smartphones haven’t yet replaced PCs as the computing platform of choice, more than half of advisors use these devices at least once a month to access fund-site data.

These findings are based on the results of an online survey conducted by Advisor Perspectives in January 2013. A total of 282 investment advisers, registered representatives, financial planners and insurance agents responded.

’Online’ is as important as ’in-person’

Only about a decade ago, advisors relied primarily on fund wholesalers to provide in-depth information on funds, and most of this information was only available in printed form. This is no longer the case.

Key Resources Advisors Use for Fund-Related Information

Survey respondents reported that independent research sites like Morningstar and interactions with fund wholesalers are their most common source of fund-related information, but fund websites are a close third. Advisors are far more likely to use these sites than respond to emails from fund companies or solicit opinions from other advisors.

There is a correlation between the resources advisors use and the level of assets they manage.

Use of Fund Sites vs. Wholsalers by AUM Levels

Advisors who manage larger pools of assets tend to rely more on wholesalers than fund sites, while the reverse is true for advisors with fewer assets under management. This is understandable, because wholesalers tend to focus their efforts on cultivating and serving the top advisors at larger firms. Those who aren’t considered ‘top-tier advisors generally don’t have the same level of access to wholesalers and rely more on their own efforts to find fund-related information.

Fund sites are critical research tools

Nearly all advisors rely on fund company sites to aid in their research and evaluation efforts.

Percentage of Advisors' Due Diligence Information

On the whole, more than half get at least 25% of their due-diligence information from fund sites. Nearly one in four rely on these sites for more than 50% of this data.

The more money an advisor manages, the more he or she uses fund sites for research purposes.

Advisors' Usage of Fund Web Sites for Due Diligence

Those who manage $100 million or more in assets utilize these sites for a greater percentage of their due-diligence information than those with smaller pools of assets. This may be because top-tier advisors use a broader range of funds and fund families and are expected to deliver a higher level of performance analytics to their clients.

Focused on fund facts

Advisors tend to use mutual fund websites primarily to access core-level data on performance, holdings and risk metrics on funds they are using or considering recommending for their clients. Most also use these sites to download prospectuses, fact sheets and fund manager commentaries.

Advisors' Preferred Fund Web Site Content

The advisor-only areas of many fund sites offer content, interactive presentations and videos related to practice management and client acquisition. However, relatively few advisors avail themselves of these resources.

Fund company sites lag in mobile usage

Many industry prognosticators predict that mobile devices will soon surpass PCs as the primary means for accessing the web. While advisors are a ways behind this curve, more than half use these devices to get information from fund companies.

How often Advisors use Mobile Devices

Although 45% of survey respondents said they never use mobile devices for this purpose, 36% of respondents access fund information from these devices at least once a week.

Tablets preferred

Advisors use mobile devices for the same kinds of research-driven tasks as PCs.

Mobile Devices Advisors Use

These devices are used most often for getting updated prices and conducting research on funds. For everything except quick-hit tasks like getting price quotes, mobile users prefer tablets over smartphones. Advisors with tablets are also more likely to use tablets to view multimedia content, use investment tools and conduct client presentations. Given their advantages of larger screens and easier navigation. iPads and their brethren are likely to become the predominant mobile platform for advisors who wish to conduct business outside the office.

Are fund sites meeting advisors’ expectations?

Fund companies have spent billions to improve the breadth, accessibility and timeliness of their online information. Indeed, accessing fund companies’ websites is so integral to advisors’ routines that advisors evaluate website quality when deciding whether to add a fund family’s products to their investment lineups.

The Importance of Online Capabilities

Well over half of respondents stated that a fund company’s online capabilities contribute to their overall impression of the company. Nearly 10% won’t deal with any company that doesn’t offer a superior online experience.

Yet, in spite of the vast improvements fund companies have made, very few companies stand out as being the best. Of the top 20 largest mutual fund companies*, only nine were singled out by more than 10% of advisors as offering superior website capabilities. Mobile users were even less impressed: Just six companies received more than 10% of advisors’ votes.

This is an important wake-up call for fund companies. In an era where it’s increasingly difficult for funds to outperform the market consistently, advisors are relying on a broader set of criteria to determine which funds and fund families earn spots on their recommendation lists. For many advisors, online capabilities are an important benchmark.

Fund companies can’t control how advisors think about their products, but they can influence advisors’ perceptions of their online presence. Improving these capabilities is an investment that fund companies can’t afford to miss.

*Source: InvestmentNews, The 100 Largest Mutual Fund Families.

Nina Eisenman is president of Eisenman Associates, a graphic and website design firm specializing in branding and marketing communications for investment companies. Jeff Briskin is director of marketing for Advisor Perspectives and president of Briskin Consulting, a strategic marketing and creative services firm catering to investment companies and financial advisors.

Convert Prospects Into Investors with Mutual Fund Website Calls to Action

Written by on February 9, 2013 in Articles - No Comments

Mutual Fund Website Calls to Action.

A potential investor or financial professional has found their way to your  website. Congratulations! Now what? The visitor briefly peruses your site, skimming your content to see if there’s anything of interest, checking out your performance data, manager bios maybe even downloading a fund fact sheet. Maybe they’re ready to invest or perhaps they’re simply collecting information and not ready to take the plunge, at least not yet. Either way, without effective calls to action (CTAs) you may never know.

What are CTAs?

CTA’s are invitations for your website visitors to provide information about themselves or take a specific action. Typical CTAs include “Register Now”, “Sign Up for Our Newsletter” and “Open an Account”. CTAs convert anonymous website visitors into actionable leads. Once the leads are in your sales funnel your sales team has a chance to convert them into prospects and eventually into investors and clients.

Traffic vs Conversions—Turning Numbers into Names

“How many hits is our website getting?” You’ve heard this question before. Tracking the number of unique visitors to your website is a good gauge of your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy’s performance but it doesn’t provide any specific information about who your site visitors are. The more useful question from a lead generation point of view is “who is visiting my website and how can I convert them from a visitor into an investor?” CTAs answer that question. CTAs allow you to collect specific information from your website visitors so that you can keep in touch, follow up and, if the fit is right, eventually convert them from a prospect into an investor or advocate.

“Contact Us” is not a Call to Action

If your “Contact Us” link is the closest thing your site has to a CTA then you’re wasting an opportunity to connect with, and convert, potential investors. Of course your home page should have an easy to find “Contact Us’ link but the ubiquitous “Contact Us” can be too much too soon for prospects who are still just collecting information and don’t want to be contacted by a sales person. Calls to action, (CTAs), on the other hand, cordially invite your website visitors to provide a palatable amount of personal information, such as their email address, in exchange for something that is of interest to them. That something may be your portfolio managers’ quarterly updates, a newsletter, a webinar or the ability to open an account online.

A CTA for Every Buying Stage

Each visitor to your mutual fund website will be at a certain stage of the buying cycle—anywhere from early stage prospects who are simply collecting information about a variety of funds to later stage prospects who have done their homework and are ready to invest. You can easily tailor CTAs to appeal to prospects at each stage.
CTA_sample1Site visitors in early stages of the buying cycle are evaluating and collecting information. For these prospects, offering a very simple “keep informed” CTA is the way to go. Seafarer Funds, a small, employee-owned firm nails it with a callout box entitled “Stay Updated. Sign up for news and commentaries” The only personal information they ask for is the visitor’s email address and name along with a checkbox where the visitor can indicate if they are an investment professional. Visitors who sign up are added to Seafarer’s email distribution list and receive information that they want. Seafarer gets to stay in touch with someone who may one day invest in their funds. The familiarity and trust that is built over time by “staying in touch” could make all the difference when the prospect is ready to select a fund.

Keep It Simple

Asking for too much information at too early a stage in the buying cycle is a sure turn off. It’s best to limit early buying stage CTAs to three or four pieces of information; first name, last name, email address and, if required for compliance reasons, zip code or country.

Coffee is for Closers

Prospects in later buying stages are looking for reassurance and efficiency. If it is possible for potential investors to open an account online then an “Open and Account” CTA is a must. Tilson Mutual Funds makes it crystal clear to visitors with a large callout box with the headline “Invest Now” followed by ‘Did you know that you can now open and manage your account online? Click here or on the “My Account” button on the left to get started.” They make signing up easy and efficient for visitors that have already made the decision to invest.

Matthews Asia does a nice job of offering CTAs for visitors at both the early and late stages of the buying cycle. The side navigation on every page of their site includes two links: “Stay Updated…Email Sign Up” for early stage and “Open an Account” for late stage buyers.

Marketing Automation and CRM Integration

As your website CTAs generate more and more leads, linking them to a CRM (customer relationship management) platform like Salesforce will streamline the process of keeping track of them. When your site starts to generate more leads than you can follow up with manually you should consider integrating marketing automation software such as Act-On. As the name implies, marketing automation software automates the process of following up with the leads through systems such as personalized email distribution.

Adding CTAs to Your Mutual Fund Website

So remember, when it comes to adding CTAs to your mutual fund website offer CTAs for various stages of the buying cycle, keep them simple, don’t ask for too much information and once the leads start flowing in streamline follow up with a CRM and marketing automation software. As always, if you have any questions, just “Contact Us”!

 

Using Color Effectively in Your Mutual Fund Website Design

Written by on September 24, 2012 in Articles - No Comments

Mutual Fund Websites – Invoking Emotions Through Color 

How important are colors in the development of your mutual fund website? With the exception of the navigation, it is one of the first things an end-user will notice when visiting your site. It is the use of colors that will invoke a visitor’s emotion, so with that in mind, the most important step in choosing your investment firm’s corporate color palette starts with knowing what message you want your website to convey.

It may seem like a simple process, but colors do not always represent what we might think. The mind’s ability to translate color into emotion is controlled by many things including usage, demographics and geographic settings of each individual you are reaching. Considering websites are obtainable on a global basis, this can accountant for a vast array of translations. So where should the color picking process begin? If you already have established corporate colors, your job is done.

Staying within your investment firm’s corporate palette will assure reinforced branding efforts across your campaign platforms. However, if you do not have established branding, it is best to start with colors that you like, combined with a proven color representation of your funds holdings.

Although there are exceptions to every rule, there are basic psychological guidelines for various colors. In an effort to maximize color theory practices for the diversity of mutual fund websites, here are some proven observations about the emotional connections certain colors translate for us:

Brown – most commonly associated with hearth and home, substance and stability

Blue – represents dependability, serenity and is perceived as a constant in our lives

Green – usually associated with refreshing, healing and freshness

Purple – seen as sensual, elegant and mysterious

Yellow – represents warm, cheerful and luminous

Orange – known for being friendly, vital and tangy

Pink – associated with being happy, sweet and spirited

Red – represents stimulating, exciting and provocative

Black – represents strong, classic and elegant

White – associated with purity, innocence and simplicity. White is also the most commonly used background color for web development because it is the best setting for color matching.

Do the color associations above mean that using purple for a financial site is a bad idea? Not necessarily. It is more about how color is actually being used, combined with its psychological representation, that actually dictates its emotional tie. Successful designs usually incorporate a three-color combination to help trigger a viewer’s responses. This color combination should be represented by a dominant color, a subordinate color and an accent color. While purple may not be the best psychological trigger for a financial website design, it could be an excellent supporting color depending on what type of holdings your funds are being represented by.

Another little-known fact is that memory retention studies tell us that 78 percent of people are more likely to remember a word or phrase represented by color as opposed to black and white. So one way of building a memorable text-based logo presence is to add color to it. Also, by highlighting links and/or strong words that represent your company’s principals in your logo color can trigger a direct association between the two. So it is not just the colors that are important, but it is also the use and placement of those colors which will maximize an end-users connection to your business and their needs.

The most important thing to know about color is that it is a part of the design process and, like any part of a creative initiative, it is going to be subjective. It’s important not to be swayed too much by your own personal color preference. An understanding of how color effects people’s emotions, and how to incorporate that knowledge into a financial website design can mean the difference between a website that reflects your brand position and one that tells a story you didn’t mean to tell. Ultimately, a website that accurately conveys the essence of your firm and your funds to visitors can go a long way towards converting those visitors into investors.

Mutual Fund Websites as Virtual Wholesalers

Written by on May 16, 2012 in Articles - No Comments

A hard working website can be the next best thing to a wholesaler for small mutual fund companies.

For years, mutual funds have traditionally been sold to registered investment advisers (RIAs), financial advisors and planners through a national sales force comprised of individual wholesalers. These wholesalers were either employed directly by a fund company or worked independently to represent a variety of funds, often in a specific geographical area.

But the prohibitive costs of starting a national wholesaler network, combined with changes in the RIA business has made it more difficult for smaller fund companies to even consider starting and maintaining any type of national sales force.  The challenge and uncertainty of these significant start-up costs has largely excluded hundreds of small mutual fund companies, which have exemplary performance records, interesting investment strategies and talented personnel, from gaining a national human sales presence.  This presents a disservice to RIAs looking for funds with solid track records and fresh strategies, and ultimately a disservice to end investors.
Read more…

Compliance for Mutual Fund Websites

Written by on May 1, 2012 in Articles - No Comments

If your firm is a registered investment adviser (RIA) then you already know that your website is considered advertising by the SEC and that its content must be in compliance with SEC regulations. If you’re planning on adding content about a mutual fund or funds to your website, FINRA steps into the regulatory picture and your compliance requirements ratchet up. The principles of the SEC and FINRA, which both view website as advertising, are similar. But, in addition to what the SEC requires, FINRA also requires that mutual fund firms send them their website content for review. Some RIAs that have separately managed accounts in addition to their mutual fund clients opt to launch a separate mutual fund website rather than integrate mutual fund content into their existing website. Other investment firms publish a single site with a section dedicated to their mutual funds and other sections that discuss their separately managed account (SMA) business and other offerings. Whichever path you choose, if you’re an RIA with one or more mutual funds, compliance plays a critical role in developing a content strategy and publishing content to your website.
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How to Use Website Content to Attract New Mutual Fund Investors

Written by on April 2, 2012 in Articles - No Comments

Your potential investors go online to learn more — it’s the first place they look. If you don’t have the website content they’re looking for, someone else may attract their attention (and investment dollars) first.

Adding valuable and timely content to your mutual fund website can help generate more new investors faster. Read more…