Alts Content Strategy: Finding the Right Sophistication Level
What’s the right level of sophistication for alts content: 101, 201, or 301? When we asked advisors, the answer was surprisingly, “Yes.” This has important implications when marketing any alts product for the wealth channel, from evergreen funds to ETFs.
Advisors’ preferred level of alts content sophistication
When we asked advisors what level of sophistication they want when doing alts research for themselves, not surprisingly, 201 was the clear top choice.
But when we asked about the content they want to use with their clients, the results were much closer than we expected. We assumed 80%+ of advisors would want 101-level content for their clients. But the gap between 101 (56%) and 201 (39%) was much closer than we expected.
Tailoring content to each phase of the alts buying journey
These result suggests that advisors view the alts decision as a multi-phase process for their clients. Given the complexity and liquidity constraints, advisors need to have several conversations with clients.
The first conversation may focus on the basics of the asset class, and then the advisor can move on to explaining how alts and private markets fit into the client’s portfolio, current opportunities in the market, when the client will be able to access the funds, and how not having immediate access to the funds is what allows managers to generate excess returns.
Rather than trying to create one piece of content that covers all these topics and levels of detail, marketers should use a modular strategy: shorter, narrower pieces that are designed for specific parts of the decision journey. Arm your distribution team with content at varying levels of sophistication—and move to the head of what is a very competitive class.
For more insights from our survey of 300 advisors, you can download our e-book for free here.
Guidance for your alts content strategy
We work with some of the industry’s largest alts managers, as well as boutiques, to tell their story and drive engagement. If you’re looking to elevate your alts marketing, submit a contact form and a member of our team will reach out.
About the Author Scott Wentworth, CEO at Wentworth Financial Communications. Scott leads a team of writers and editors at Wentworth to help firms across the financial services industry build their brands and articulate their expertise by creating investment-grade content.