"Marketing Alpha" For Sub-Institutional Alternative Managers
How New, Smaller and Sub-$300 Million Asset Managers Raise Assets
INTRODUCTION
Bryan K. Johnson
Founder & Managing Partner
- 25+ years experience in alternative investments as an investor, marketer/salesperson, advisor & expert witness.
- Launched Johnson & Company in 2010 as a firm singularly dedicated to delivering professional marketing advisory and execution to sub-institutional alternative asset managers. Consultation and training of 300+ sub-institutional managers.
- Prior to Johnson & Company, served as Global Head of Business Development for the Alternative Funds Group (AFG) with Moody’s Investors Service in New York City. Senior Relationship Officer actively called on investment executives, board members and decision-makers at endowments, foundations, taft-hartley (unions) plans, single and multi-family offices, public pensions, broker-dealers, RIAs and institutional consultants. Led deployment of Operational Quality (OQ) ratings for hedge funds and credit ratings for alternative investment securitizations such as Collateralized Fund Obligations (CFOs) and debt obligations of alternative asset managers. Clients included: Citadel, Fortress, King Street, Marathon, SAC, Millennium, Brevan Howard and Marshall Wace.
- Before tenure with Moody’s, served as senior lead consultant and chief expert witness for The Attorney General of Texas and The State of Texas in the evaluation of hedge funds and private equity firms involving disposition of the generation assets of Texas Genco and the multi-billion dollar true-up of Centerpoint Energy (CNP:NYSE)
- Preceding engagement with the State of Texas and The Office of the Attorney General, CEO/Founder of Gotham Bay Partners, an alternative investment firm which developed investment policy and asset allocation strategies for 60+ private wealth investors and family offices as well as evaluated single manager and pooled private equity and hedge funds. Raised and allocated $3+ billion to external managers. Principal investor/portfolio manager of a $100 million dollar internal private equity fund.
- B.A. from Washington and Lee University (Lexington, VA) 1986.
“MARKETING ALPHA” IS VITAL TO SUCCEED RAISING ASSETS.
For new, first-time and smaller managers, especially those with AUM less than $100 million, the need to grow assets quickly and consistently is critical.
However, EVERY alternative management firm, regardless of size has growth of AUM as a constant primary objective. There are currently 18,000+ U.S.-based hedge funds and 4000+ private equity firms in active fundraising. This makes raising assets hyper-competitive.
The vast majority of new and smaller managers firmly believe that investment performance will attract assets. Research clearly shows performance does not attract assets but only brings a certain degree of attention. There are literally thousands of smaller venture capital, private equity, private credit and hedge funds that display consistent out-performance on a risk-adjusted, peer, relative or absolute return basis but they struggle to raise assets. In fact, most new, first-time and smaller managers rarely get AUM beyond personal capital along with small investments from family, friends and minor amounts from a few social and professional relationships.
The failure raising assets is a direct product of poor understanding, implementation and execution of the "correct manager-specific" MARKETING PROCESS.
Speaking plainly, success raising assets depends almost entirely on consistent execution of "THE MARKETING PROCESS".
Let's be clear: "Constantly pitching performance" is NOT marketing and is NOT a process. There is an enormous amount of hype, noise, completely wrong information, myths and fiction about raising assets. It takes a data-driven, structured, disciplined, focused and consistently well-executed MARKETING PROCESS along with patience, persistence and sharp interpersonal, presentation, communication and engagement skills for new, first-time and smaller managers to consistently raise, retain and expand AUM.
An important note: Many new and smaller managers have the expectation that "commission-only/performance/transaction/success fee-compensated" third party marketing (3PM) and prime broker capital introduction (Cap Intro) will be sources of marketing and capital raising assistance. However, for managers with less than $100 million AUM, the "marketing and capital raising processes" are “Do-It-Yourself” (D-I-Y) efforts. Research shows 3PM and Cap Intro are not options until AUM reaches the minimum institutional level of $150-$200 million.
While the marketing process is entirely "D-I-Y" for new and small managers, most do not posses the marketing knowledge, skills, experience and expertise required to execute at the level required in a hyper-competitive capital raising climate filled with sophisticated, idiosyncratically demanding, highly-skeptical and stringently selective investors. Even managers with experience working in larger firms with significant assets under management struggle to raise assets when starting their own fund/firm.
The marketing process for new, first-time and sub-institutional managers with small AUM is completely different than for larger, more-seasoned, institutional-level funds with sizable AUM. Marketing is now more complex, time-consuming, resource intensive and expensive. The cost, commitment, requirements, complexities, demands, skills and nuances of marketing are more numerous and often grossly under-estimated by new and smaller managers. As such, marketing can be confusing and raising assets overwhelming.
For new and smaller managers, the "correct" marketing to raise assets efficiently, effectively, economically and consistently is most often the biggest problem. Candidly, when it comes to the marketing process, most new, first-time and small managers don't know what to do and how to consistently execute the "right way". This ultimately leads to chronic frustration and failure getting AUM beyond a small amount largely comprised of personal capital and the "friends & family" circle.
Johnson & Company solves the marketing problem for new, first-time and small managers by offering the key factor to raise assets and grow AUM: “MARKETING ALPHA”.
Since 2010, Johnson & Company has been the ONLY firm actively dedicated to meeting the unique marketing and capital raising requirements of new, first-time and small sub-institutional alternative asset managers within venture capital, private equity, private credit and hedge funds.
Johnson & Company is equipped with 25+ years experience, expertise and skill marketing alternative assets, which enables providing "MARKETING ALPHA" for new, first-time and small managers to expediently, economically and efficiently get real and get ready to get results raising assets.
"MARKETING ALPHA" employs the commitment, focus, structure, discipline, consultative candor and accountability to quickly stop marketing mistakes that lead to wasted time, effort and money as well as prevents mistakes that can be fatal or catastrophic to fundraising by eliminating the hype, noise, wrong information, myths and fiction about raising assets. A crucial aspect of the process is delivery of the strategic, tactical, operational and financial requirements of marketing and raising assets on a "manager-specific" basis.
"MARKETING ALPHA" provides the information, insight, intelligence, instruction, relationship introductions and assisted execution of the "manager-specific" marketing process "step-by-step/day-by-day" at the high-level required to optimally-position, prepare and equip new, first-time and smaller managers to raise, retain and expand AUM consistently, faster, easier and less expensively.
For new, first-time and small managers serious about raising assets, view the details of "MARKETING ALPHA".
Also, invest time to carefully review the resources below. They are instructional and contain immediately actionable guidance about marketing and raising assets.
Finally, if you have questions, contact me, I welcome the opportunity for a conversation to see how "MARKETING ALPHA" can help consistently raise, retain and expand AUM.
Continued success,
Bryan Johnson
Managing Partner
An Overview of MARKETING For New, First-Time and Sub-$100 Million AUM Alternative Managers
Close Encounters of the Third (Party) Kind: 3rd Party Marketing & Sub-Institutional Managers
CONTACT:
Bryan K. Johnson
Direct: (512) 786-1569
Email: bryan@Johnsn.com
Copyright © 2023 Johnson & Company - All Rights Reserved.
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