blog

Is there Value out there?

by Anu

Asset Management firms are developing Value-Added Programs at a rapid rate. Different firms have different reasons to develop these programs. One thing each firm has in common - nobody is really sure how to measure the value of Value-Added Programs. Do the programs drive new flows? Do they retain assets under management? Do they educate Advisors to optimize investor portfolios?

Nobody knows.

I am new to kasina, and in my last opportunity, I developed and marketed financial service products to US consumers -- millions of consumers. Our firm needed over 100,000 customers per product to justify the development and marketing support a product needed. To achieve mass appeal, we used numerous sales channels, with different approaches (e.g. e-mail solicitations). Then, we measured each program to the nth degree, hoping to optimize future investments. A simple measurement tool could be sending half the solicitations to geographies with no product advertising.

From this we could ask:

• Is there a different conversion rate (turning prospects into customers)?


• Are the conversion rates similar to past e-mail solicitations?


• [Fast forward six months] Does advertising bring in customers of a different quality?

Answer those questions (along with others), senior management could evaluate:

• Is advertising worthwhile?


• Do we target the right people?

But you only know this from measuring success & mistakes. Experience is the name every one gives mistakes, right?

So why don't asset managers create, promote and measure Value-Added Programs? Can we have better experiences if we don't know about our mistakes and successes?

Stay tuned for the future kasina report where we try to understand, analyze and recommend new strategies to enhance Value-Added Programs.