Several years ago, prior to my transition from an independent wealth manager to an early-stage private venture investor, I was obsessed and focused on two business objectives: protecting and growing my clients’ portfolios, and protecting and growing my practice.
Of course, the two are not mutually exclusive. Sound investment management practices go far toward securing your assets under management and ultimately lead to referrals that, in turn, grow your practice. But, most independent investment advisors recognize that in addition to effective portfolio and client management, and referrals from clients and centers of influence, there are myriad media, marketing and networking opportunities which offer the allure of greater visibility for their practices.
Toward this end, advisors have misemployed countless dollars and hours on practice promotion and client marketing schemes such as blogging, newsletters, websites, email campaigns, seminars and social media—usually with little to show for their efforts. These impersonal marketing methods may generate new names, but they rarely result in meaningful new client relationships.
Recently, I was speaking with an investment advisor who doubles as a venture populist. His advisory firm actively aggregates, syndicates and allocates high-net-worth investor client capital into private venture investments. As an occasional angel investor himself, the advisor cited how joining a local angel investment group had materially increased his access to that attractive 10% of HNW clients who inevitably constitute 90% of an advisor’s assets under management.