Some of the best performing sub-institutional managers are not successful raising assets while others, with only moderate and even poor performance, are more successful attracting assets. The major reason for this paradoxical situation is MARKETING.

Candidly, a structured, focused and disciplined MARKETING PROCESS is MANDATORY for smaller managers.

When asked to describe alpha generation all managers talk about process, which requires investment in skilled human resources, systems and documented procedures. Marketing and fundraising are distinctly separate but complementary processes, requiring the same degree of thought, structure, planning, discipline and consistency as investing or trading.

Few new or smaller managers acutely understand the holistic commitment to marketing now required to achieve success raising assets. The vast majority of new and smaller managers approach marketing as ad-hoc events, such as attending conferences and posting performance to popular databases, not as a carefully-crafted, well-researched process. As such, most do not make the necessary investments in professional resources, appropriate infrastructure and skill development. More critically, the overwhelming majority operate without a documented, detailed written step-by-step action plan with budget. Most new and smaller hedge funds have zero marketing budget. The culmination of marketing process deficiencies, which leads to numerous mistakes (some that prove fatal), ultimately is THE reason for failure to raise assets.

Raising assets now requires the clear, coherent, concise, compelling and regulatory-compliant presentation of a fund's idiosyncratic approach (investment philosophy), behavioral (operational) distinction, competitive edge and key processes with complete confidence and conviction in a "user-friendly" format that can be easily understood, evaluated and assimilated by the RIGHT investors and intermediaries. This requires a high level of marketing acuity and discernment between strategic and tactical marketing. This serves as the essence of MARKETING.

STRATEGIC + TACTICAL + FINANCIAL = INTELLIGENT

This process eliminates inappropriate, inconsistent, inadequate and ineffective marketing to promote high-level execution consistency and accountability to considerably increase success raising assets.