“We are committed to meeting client needs.”
“Our reach and leadership are global.”
“We have a culture of transparency and trust.”
“Our portfolio managers are highly experienced.”
These promises appear consistently across investment management—on homepages, in marketing materials and during client presentations. These statements are important and of course, they must be true. But they’re also table stakes, only meeting baseline expectations. They can’t create a memorable or compelling connection in a crowded field.
The real value lies in uncovering what matters to audiences with very different priorities—then addressing them through resonant messaging and an aligned brand experience. For wealth managers, this starts with understanding how different generations of high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net worth (UHNW) individuals view and use wealth. For asset managers, it begins with uncovering what inspires confidence in institutional clients—such as pension fund managers, endowments and corporations—in always-uncertain markets.
These deeper motivators, not generalized claims about capabilities, are what can build enduring relationships and sustainable growth. Yet across investment management, table stakes messaging continues to dominate brand communications.
A Look at the Current Messaging Landscape
When it comes to asset management, recent research from Citywire Selector reveals that most brands tell the same story.
The publication’s 2024 analysis finds that 60% of the top 50 global asset management firms rely on just six “anodyne” attributes to define their brands. Among those, the most prevalent are “global,” “scale” or “leadership” (attributes that convey size or stature) and “client focus” (conveying commitment to customer care). Large firms, despite their greater resources, often rely on the same descriptors as smaller competitors.
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Reliance on these safe, familiar attributes is understandable, as they address core expectations. Clients want to know their chosen partner has the resources, expertise and commitment to navigate complex markets and protect their investments. Messaging about global reach or client focus signals core stability and trustworthiness in an industry where relationships and reputations are built over time.
But while these descriptors build credibility, they also create a sea of sameness, making it hard for audiences to see and understand what makes each asset manager unique. Opportunities to share values and develop a shared, trusted journey through ever-shifting markets are lost—at a time when competition has never been fiercer.
So while this pattern is understandable, it reveals a deeper challenge: the need for brands to go beyond promising fundamental competence and articulate what truly sets them apart—guided by what matters most to today’s investors.
The Critical Need to Understand What Matters Most
The traditional approach to client acquisition and retention in investment management was clear: grow assets. This worked fine in rising markets—as long as returns stayed strong, clients stayed satisfied. Performance alone built the trust that drove value creation.
The 2008 financial crisis marked a first major turning point, eroding investor trust in the entire industry and transforming the landscape. Digital transformation then reshaped how firms engage with clients. The pandemic and the Great Resignation then fundamentally changed how people view their relationship with wealth.
Today, prospects and clients look beyond “Me-too” brands and baseline performance promises. To navigate uncertainty, they seek clarity and confidence—even as what builds that confidence continues to evolve.
These changes present investment managers with a compelling opportunity: to build brand strategies that leverage deeper understanding and connect more meaningfully. While no firm can disguise poor performance—and every firm faces challenges—brands built on authentic audience insights create the kind of sustained relevance that keeps clients engaged through every market cycle.
A Wealth Management Brand Built on Understanding
The leaders of a wealth management firm with over $460B in assets engaged us to navigate a fundament shift: the accelerating transfer of wealth to the next generation of HNW individuals. It’s a transition that marks a profound evolution in how investors view wealth itself.
The firm came to us with a respected name and a strong reputation as a leader. But given this sea change, they knew they needed to evolve and strengthen their connection with the rising generation.
Our brand strategy development process began with deep research into these younger clients and prospects. And we discovered compelling insights. Whether self-made entrepreneurs or family wealth inheritors, these investors see their wealth as a means to an end. Yes, they want to grow wealth to leave to other family members. But they also aspire to achieve greater things. To make positive impacts on the world. To leave a legacy.
This insight led us to the new brand, based on the idea of having an investment partner who aligns their activity to advance your purpose. The brand redefines what it means to be an investment manager for the next generation. It positions the firm as a partner in investing, thinking, planning and fulfilling each family’s purpose.
To support the new brand, we worked closely with leadership to develop a modernized version of the firm’s legacy name, distinguishing the group from its parent. We then launched the brand with a digital experience strategically crafted to engage the next generation of investors while maintaining a strong connection to legacy investors. Presentations, marketing materials and a comprehensive thought leadership campaign all brought further dimension to the new brand’s story, inviting investors into a relationship that aligned with their goals as people.
The new brand experience includes an event series that enables HNW and UHNW individuals to connect with the firm and each other through purpose-driven discussions. These experiences demonstrate the firm’s commitment to aligning with its investors’ broader aspirations, like philanthropy, entrepreneurship or creating societal impact. Each interaction reinforces the firm’s role as a partner in building personal and generational legacies.
Internal teams found the new brand energizing. As they engaged the next generation of investors, they knew that they were addressing their true priorities and motivators. They also felt more confident than ever that they could meet their needs.
This story underscores a fundamental truth: brand relevance demands ongoing attention to changing needs and motivations. The messaging that built a firm’s success with one generation of investors and talent won’t resonate with the next. As markets inevitably shift and attitudes about wealth evolve, only committed audience understanding can build a resilient investment brand—one that drives enduring growth.
Creating Value by Building Deeper Connections
Creating strong brand positioning and experiences in investment management requires understanding prospects and clients on personal, even profound levels. Today’s firms have to do more than transcend the sea of messaging sameness, echoing core promises. They must build brands that reflect what matters most to external and internal audiences today while keeping agile enough to evolve as those needs change.
Core attributes like global reach, client focus and trustworthiness will remain essential brand pillars. But a firm’s deeper value proposition—what it genuinely enables for its clients—must become the foundation of the brand. This means:
- Continuously examining how different generations view wealth, work and success
- Building brands flexible enough to evolve while maintaining core strengths
- Creating messaging that speaks to both universal needs and distinct audience motivations
- Providing the brand experience that fulfills the brand promise, fully aligned with investor values and priorities
The investment management firms that will thrive moving forward will go beyond the expected, building a bold, thoughtful, differentiated brand that becomes an asset for managing each all-important relationship. Messaging that resonates—and a brand experience that pays off its promise—give people reasons to believe in the firm. The brand reinforces the partnership as one they can trust regardless of what changes next.
Ready to build your investment brand on understanding? Contact us.
