When an Allocator says: “send me your marketing deck...”
You likely spend most of your time perfecting your investment strategy and in pitches with prospective investors you’ve met at roadshows, through referrals, or lead generation via your marketing campaigns. This usually leads to you hearing: “send me your marketing deck”, which means either of:
Not interested / doesn’t suit mandate. Something to skim through upon receipt and keep for future consideration.
Possibly interested and wanting to learn more.
Here’s when your marketing deck’s journey begins, and too often... also ends immediately because you’ve not spent enough time sharpening one of your most important tools. If your marketing deck is compelling enough, you’ll even be able to get conversations out of folks who weren’t overly keen in the first place!
Across the 100s of GPs we’ve worked with, the two most common explanations around a lack of attention to their own marketing decks are: (1) a belief that performance alone is enough to attract investors, and (2) the lack of in-house resources / time. For the former, it’s usually the BD/IR team that approaches us on behalf of the Portfolio Manager. If you fall into either of these camps, there’s a good likelihood that there are 3 departments which require strengthening:
Messaging – Articulating the fund’s unique value proposition and what sets it apart from other similar managers who might have more AUM or a longer track record. When done right, prospective investors will feel your passion and commitment to delivering on your strategy. Weaving in the investment process, drivers of performance, risk mitigation, etc. across the storytelling aspect is an art.
Design – It's a really crowded marketplace, and you have to stand out... whether you like the idea of creative disruption, or not. There’s also the element of a professionally looking deck giving you the perception of being more focused on attention to detail. The converse applies too...
Layering – The best fundraising teams always have dry powder in their marketing arsenal: videos and white papers to complement their deck, ongoing email campaigns to re-engage prospects, etc. Ultimately, excuses from Managers to get investors to absorb information in a layered fashion.
Performance alone isn’t enough to attract an allocation. We've seen some of the best-performing funds struggle to attract investors because of “un-institutional” material (true story). After “send me your marketing deck...” happens, your presentation is on its own; it’ll need to defend itself and build a runway for further meetings. A well-crafted marketing deck increases the likelihood of more pages being read, more key information being absorbed, and most importantly, it earns you the right for that follow-up call.