Tag Archive for: investment

"Convert Website Visitors into Leads"

/1 Comment/in , , , , /by

You should use a strong call to action to convert website visitors into leads for your business, according to “Strong Call to Action – Convert Website Visitors into Leads” on the Hubspot website. If visitors give you their contact information, they’re one step closer to becoming clients.

Hubspot advises you to:

  1. Keep it Simple.
  2. Make it Obvious.
  3. Most Important: Make it Valuable.

For example, I observe these rules on my InvestmentWriting.com website by:

  1. Saying simply “Receive My E-newsletter!” on my sign-up box 
  2. Placing the sign-up box in the upper right-hand corner of every page of my website
  3. Offering value by providing a monthly e-newsletter

How could you apply these tips to your website? If you’re an investment manager, consider offering an email subscription to your investment commentary.


Markopolos SEC letter (2005)

/in /by

A 2005 letter from Harry Markopolos to the SEC about Madoff Investment Securities is now available on the LinkedIn profile of Bud Haslett, CFA, CEO of Miller Tabak Securities.

The file is less than halfway down the page. It’s below Bud’s Presentations sections and above his Experience section.

Lesson from a headline, "A 30-Year Treasury Bond: Probably One of the Most Dangerous Investments You Could Make"

/in , , , , /by

“A 30-Year Treasury Bond:  Probably One of the Most Dangerous Investments You Could Make” is a great headline. It’s also a great topic.

Why? Because it challenges the average person’s idea of what’s a safe investment. Turning a common idea on its head will attract readers. In this case, it will also do them a service by explaining the downside of investing in 30-year Treasuries.

Kudos to RegentAtlantic Capital for an excellent headline and story idea for their recent press release.

Pick young, small hedge funds for better returns?

/in /by

If you face a choice between two hedge funds with equally attractive performance records, you should pick the younger, smaller fund.

At least, that’s what I took away from “Hedge Fund Performance Persistence: A New Approach,” an article by Nicole M. Boyson, an assistant professor of finance at Northeastern University, in the Nov./Dec. 2008 issue of the Financial Analysts Journal (CFA Institute membership or other payment required for online access).

Here’s how Boyson put it: “by selecting funds on the basis of fund age and fund size in addition to past performance, investors can substantially improve the likelihood of superior performance over a selection process based on past performance alone.”

Funds with good track records may eventually underperform, she wrote, because “At some point, these funds will grow so large that the fund manager’s skills will be spread too thin and/or the fund’s trades will have a larger price impact and higher transaction costs than previously–both of which compromise the fund’s performance.”

Boyson found that “A portfolio of young, small, good past performers outperformed a portfolio of old, large, poor past performers by nearly 10 percentage points per year.”

I wish she’d shared how the performance of the young, small, good performers compared to the good performers among the old, large funds.

Access 342 hiring investment research analysts, says Integrity Research

/in , /by

Access 342, a new kind of investment research firm, is hiring research analysts, according to Integrity Research’s “Who is Hiring in the Current Environment?“

That’s the good news.

The bad news: not many analysts will fit the Access 342 mold. The bar to entry is high. You must be “identified as highly valuable by the buy-side themselves.” 

Also, you’ve got to be willing to risk working for a relatively young firm.

"Female Fund Managers Make Strides," according to Morningstar

/in , /by

Today women make up 12% of the managers of the 200 largest mutual funds, according to “Female Fund Managers Make Strides,” a Dec. 1 Morningstar article.

Twelve percent may not sound like much, but that’s up 50% from 1998. 

On the other hand, as the article notes, women make up 19% of active CFA charterholders. “it seems reasonable to think that the percent at the biggest funds should lag the CFA charterholders figure by a few years.” Do you agree? 

Related post: “The Testosterone Factor in Mutual Funds“

Will a coupon spur investment management referrals?

/in , , , /by

An investment manager recently sent me an email newsletter with a 25% off coupon.

Here’s what the coupon said:

SAVE 25%                                                                     A reminder that as a thank you to our valued clients, those who refer a new managed account relationship to COMPANY NAME will qualify for a credit of one quarter’s management fee.  Please call us for further details about this program.

If you were a client, would this motivate you to make a referral?

"Dan Fuss: The 50-Year Opportunity in Bonds"

/in /by

Opportunities in the bond market are as attractive now as they have been in at least 50 years, according to Dan Fuss, vice chairman of Loomis, Sayles & Company. He spoke on “The Bond Market Outlook” to the Boston Security Analysts Society on November 24. Fuss co-manages numerous institutional accounts, the Loomis Sayles Bond Fund, and the Loomis Sayles Strategic Income Fund.

What kind of bonds does Fuss like–and why? Read my article, “Dan Fuss: The 50-Year Opportunity in Bonds,” in Advisor Perspectives. 

Investing in strangers’ human capital

/in /by

Family wealth advisors say you should invest in your family’s human capital. But what about investing in the human capital of strangers?

The “human capital contract” is coming to the U.S., according to “Betting on Bob” in today’s Boston Globe. How does it work? Writer Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow explained that “…investors agree to cover the costs of college or graduate school in return for a percentage of the students’ future earnings over a fixed period of time.”

A U.S. company called My Rich Uncle tried, and then abandoned this approach, wrote Tuhus-Dubrow. Human capital contracts have been used outside the U.S. by Lumni, which is starting to apply it here, and Career Concepts of Germany.

According to “Popping the Tuition Bubble,” an article published on the American Enterprise Institute’s website by Frederick Hess and Kevin Carey, “…the smart money would go hunting for bigger returns at less expensive colleges that add great value. After all, other things equal, an investor fares much better by lending a student $48,000 over four years and collecting 4 percent of his or her future earnings than by lending that student $180,000 and collecting the same 4 percent.”

Human capital contracts could help students in this economic crunch. But do they make sense as an investment? What do you think? Please leave a comment.

"LinkedIn’s Little Secret: It’s a Great Lead-Gen Tool"

/in , , , , /by

You can use LinkedIn to help build your investment or wealth management business. Adapt the techniques suggested in “LinkedIn’s Little Secret: It’s a Great Lead-Gen Tool” on HubSpot’s Inbound Internet Marketing Blog.

But, first, pay attention to this warning from HubSpot: 

“Trying to directly message or reach out to your LinkedIn network or contacts could be considered spam. Please be sure that: 1) people you try to contact want to hear from you and 2) your message is relevant.”

Suggestion #1: “Create a LinkedIn Group” on a theme related to your industry. As I see it, as long as you offer something of value to group members, you can use a LinkedIn Group to position yourself as an expert in a niche and/or to expand your network. A LinkedIn Group can  keep you in front of clients, prospects, and people who can send you referrals.

Suggestion #2: “Use LinkedIn’s DirectAds” for targeted advertising. I’m not an ad expert, but it seems to me that you’d probably pursue other advertising options first. This might be a nice add-on.

Suggestion #3: “Answer Questions on LinkedIn.” This displays your expertise, plus you get an emotional boost from helping others. So far, I’ve gotten more benefit from asking questions on LinkedIn, another HubSpot suggestion. My questions have yielded valuable information and quotes for blog posts. 

Suggestion #4: “Integrate LinkedIn into Your Marketing.” For example, suggests HubSpot, whenever you speak, invite your audience to join your group. It’s an easy way to build on the connection that you form during your time with your audience. 

Have you tried any of these techniques? I’d like to learn about your experiences. 

Meanwhile, reading HubSpot’s blog post got me wondering if I should create a LinkedIn Group for readers of my Investment Writing e-newsletter or for participants in the writing workshops I teach.  If you’re a newsletter reader or graduate of one of my writing workshops, what would you want from a LinkedIn group?

Related posts: 
“How to publicize your white paper using LinkedIn” 
“How financial advisors use LinkedIn to boost their visibility”