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In Search of #Digitalalpha: Digital Content and Communication in the World's Leading Asset Managers

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In Search of #Digitalalpha: Digital Content and Communication in the World's Leading Asset Managers November 2014 Rating digital content and social media Living Ratings of Digital Intelligence communication of the top fifty asset managers* Living Ratings top 20 ranking In search of #DigitalAlpha: Digital *According to Investment & Pensions Europe Top 400 Asset Managers, June 2014. INDUSTRY LIVING FIRM % SCORE content and communication in the RANK RATINGS world’s leading asset managers 4 1 Fidelity Worldwide Investments 76% 34 2 Schroders 74% 36 3 MFS Investment Management 69% 1 4= BlackRock 68% Asset Management is defined as the “coordinated activity of an 20 4= T.Rowe Price 68% organisation to realise value from assets.” In turn, assets are defined 35 4= Credit Suisse 68% as an “item, thing or entity that has potential or actual value to an 25 7 TIAA-CREF 67% organisation.” There’s no doubt that the leading asset managers are 7 8 PIMCO 66% 12 9 Northern Trust Asset Management 63% expert at managing financial assets. But what about their digital 17 10 Invesco 62% assets? Are these same firms realising any value from the internet 16 11 Goldman Sachs Asset Management Int 61% or social media? 18 12= AXA Investment Managers 60% 2 12= Vanguard Asset Management 60% 42 14 Federated Investors 59% Asset managers failing a growing 37 15= New York Life Investments 58% mobile audience 8% 48 15= Columbia Management 58% 8 15= Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management 58% Between 2010-2013 visits to websites from mobile devices more than doubled. 8% 8% This is a trend that is set to continue in 2015. Yet, just four of the fifty firms we 14 18= Natixis Global Asset Management 57% rated use responsive web design features in their websites. What’s more fewer 6 18= J.P. Morgan Asset Management 57% than a third of the firms we rated offer a dedicated mobile version of their Just 8% of firms offer a truly website. These firms risk disenfranchising a growing number of people who device-agnostic web experience. 13 20 Franklin Templeton Investments 56% use their smart phone or hand-held device to browse and research the web. Email us: [email protected] Call us in London: +44 (0)20 7739 8899 Call us in Hong Kong: +852 3711 3100 Connect on Twitter: @LivingGroup Website: www.living-group.com 1 To talk with our team about any of the issues in this study or organise a meeting to discuss how you could benefit from developing a digital brand content and social media communications strategy please contact Abigail Vyner : [email protected] © 2014 Living Group. www.living-group.com Living Ratings of Digital Intelligence: November 2014 Website content ahead of social media Social media and website in leading asset managers performance at a glance The top performers With the exception of the asset management firms that lead Each of the five firms that lead our ratings delivers a unique our study the majority are failing to differentiate themselves and impressive digital experience. Top 50: Social media through either an effective digital presence, client-centric Fidelity Worldwide BlackRock user experience, relevant branded content, unique visual • 11 promote social media links on home page 1 Investments 4 branding or clear messaging. • 29 have a live Twitter channel • 38 feature LinkedIn 2 Schroders 5 T. Rowe Price Asset managers are • 15 use Facebook embracing digital Social media • 31 have a dedicated YouTube channel MFS Investment 3 Management communication strength building • 19 use Google+ • 17 feature a Blog on their websites On pages six to eight we’ve highlighted three case studies Across all nine Living Ratings categories Channels such as LinkedIn, Twitter, • 18 link to audio and video as part of their that offer useful insight into how digital brand content and our analysis shows clear evidence that YouTube, Facebook and Google+ feature social media social media communication can form a key part of any asset asset managers are committed to digital strongly in the communications mix as • 17 offer some kind of client app communication. Whether it’s websites asset managers look for additional ways manager’s corporate communications suite. • 41 failed to respond to our Twitter or social media the leading firms in our to optimise their marketing and business enquiry within 24 hours study are using branded content, client- development activities. However, just Big is not always better centric user experience and dynamic 50% of asset managers social media functionality to enhance their digital channels are led by a client-centric Top 50: Web communication corporate communications. approach to content. The others are IPE LIVING dominated by self-promotion, industry • 4 feature responsive web design (RWD) FIRM RANK RATINGS accolades or employee communication. • 15 offer a dedicated mobile website • 29 provide a functioning search facility 4 Fidelity Worldwide Investments 1 34 Schroders 2 How • 30 take a client-centric approach to navigation can we help and content 36 MFS Investment Management 3 you? 4 • 20 take an “About Us” approach to 1 BlackRock 4= navigation and content 20 T.Rowe Price 4= • 25 use information graphics to support 35 Credit Suisse 4= text and detail 25 TIAA-CREF 7 60% • 14 link website content to social media 7 PIMCO 8 Just four asset managers utilise 60% of asset managers demonstrate • 25 feature video or audio content responsive web design features in a client-centric approach to navigation 12 Northern Trust Asset Management 9 their website. and content. 17 Invesco 10 Email us: [email protected] Call us in London: +44 (0)20 7739 8899 Call us in Hong Kong: +852 3711 3100 Connect on Twitter: @LivingGroup Website: www.living-group.com 2 To talk with our team about any of the issues in this study or organise a meeting to discuss how you could benefit from developing a digital brand content and social media communications strategy please contact Abigail Vyner : [email protected] © 2014 Living Group. www.living-group.com Living Ratings of Digital Intelligence: November 2014 Key performance indicators Website functionality Who’s Tweeting or on LinkedIn? Content analysis Search functionality Together these fifty firms boast over four million Content – is it a mirror or a window? is a tool that’s seriously followers on LinkedIn and Twitter. When we analyse web and social media content we look for evidence neglected on nearly half of a substantive, branded, client-centric approach to communication. LinkedIn is the most popular social media of the websites we rated. Too often, social media communication is inward-facing. Outstanding channel. More than three quarters feature a live Either the search wasn’t communicators offer it as a resource; they don’t use it as a repository. and up-to-date LinkedIn page or pages with working or they rely on updates, links to blogs and announcements. Clients come first. Or do they? the corporate parent’s “Clients come first” is a familiar mantra across asset management website. Detailed YouTube is the second most popular channel websites and social media. But it not matched in reality as our analysis predictive search responses with 31 firms showcasing a host of high quality reveals an almost equal split between those asset managers who take are entirely absent. video content. a client-centric approach to navigation and content and those whose Responsive web design (RWD) means that Twitter comes a close third; more than half of the primary focus is “About Us”. when the user’s browser window changes size or firms we surveyed utilise a live Twitter feed. However Telling or selling? shape the website’s content changes with it. This given Twitter’s popularity it is surprising that just nine No one responds well to a hard sell; least of all a sophisticated ensures an optimum viewing experience whatever of these firms responded to a query we tweeted. buyer. Engaging storytelling appeals to our curiosity and our the device. Just four of the fifty firms we rated utilise Given the prevalence of all prime social channels, desire to find out more. Among the firms we rated there’s a RWD on their websites. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube, it’s straight 50:50 split between those who have taken the time puzzling to find that less than a quarter of asset Dedicated mobile website Less than a to weave an engaging narrative (with case studies and real-life managers feature social media links on their website third of asset managers provide a website that examples) and those who appear to have cut ‘n’ paste the home page. This supports our view that there exists is optimised for mobile devices. This, and the fund sales manual into their communications. a clear disconnect between social media and web lack of RWD means that nearly two-thirds of communication in the corporate space. More than words can say asset managers have a website that will not Fewer than half of asset managers use the tools of design – view properly on a mobile device. Blog. Ugly word, powerful resource engaging information graphics, typography, imagery – to support Although less than half of the asset managers in our Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) the written word. They appear to forget that it’s Amazon’s Kindle study feature a blog, those that do are of a very high techniques are numerous and vary in complexity. that was designed for lengthy e-reading, not corporate websites. quality and feature the latest Using readily available ‘View Source’ functionality, expert insight and thought Looking for a career in asset management? our analysis reveals that over half of asset managers leadership. There is a clear If you are, don’t bother looking at the website.
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