The Holy Grail for Fund Distribution
Ken Carmody
The Fund Marketing & Distribution Alternative
To do or not to do.
Funds today are faced with ever increasing decisions to make in their route to raising capital.
A small investment into a marketing and communications strategy will return huge dividends.
How successful are funds in getting through to their target audience? Do funds invest in and/or adopt best marketing and communication practices? The answer is invariably ‘No’, funds don’t have the time nor experience, the only question they have is ‘how much capital will they raise?’.
Whether you are looking to raise 10 million or 100 million+ it is not possible to simply go into the outside world armed with a fund prospectus – often these prospectuses are over 100 pages long, are black & white and are indigestible – this is a well worn route taken by many other similar type funds.
A small investment into a marketing and communications strategy will return huge dividends, to understand what an investor is looking for and provide this is the KEY to raising capital. With the advent of the digital era, many investors are using search engines to find the next fund to invest in, too often they visit a website with no information i.e. fund performance to convert the investor to make contact.
Clearly a brand, a proactive website, and being seen and improve on search engine rankings deliver instant returns. Would you prefer to have inbound enquiries from investors as opposed to little or no momentum from say high retainers paid to third party marketing agencies? With a heaviliy congested route to the investor, ever wondered where are the investors and how to get your message in front of them to create an awareness of your fund all for a low investment?
Don’t get me wrong there are limited tangibles from traditional and digital initiatives, by changing the mindset in your route to raising capital, by understanding the needs of your target audience, be they 10 or 100+ will pay instant returns.
Here at Finscoms we understand the digital and traditional platforms used to catch the eye, but and there is always a but, we through digitalization, marketing and communications strategy get you moticed by your target audience with instant results, all for a low investment.
A website is no longer an online brochure for your fund, it does and delivers on so much more. Get it right and you are on your way to raising capital in a digital environ, get it wrong and you are just one of hundreds of thousands of websites doing similar. Content and video marketing are key, but must all be in line with regulatory & compliance.
Imagine a video prospectus…
Imagine projecting your charisma through video…
Imagine making a flawless first impression…
Contact us, tell us your pain points in raising capital and you’ll find you not the only ones dealing with poor results, high costs, low penetration/conversion. Time to be efficient with your marketing and communications with instant tangibles, this is our bread and butter, what have you got to lose?
EDWARD SIMPSON
Exploring the ICAV
Whilst there are many structures the choose from when establishing a fund this article focuses on The Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle (ICAV). The ICAV provides a flexible corporate structure which can be used to establish both UCITS and alternative investment funds. ICAV attracted EUR8.4bn to Irish funds in its first 12 months of existence becoming the Irish fund vehicle of choice in both the retail and professional investor sectors.
The success of the ICAV will continue to grow.
The success of the ICAV will continue to grow as the number of investment managers, international investors, fund financing counterparties, and fund service providers become more and more comfortable with the associated variables from structuring, incorporation, management, to distribution of ICAVs. The ICAV has without doubt enhanced Ireland’s competitiveness as domicile of choice for investment funds by virtue of its attractive legal structure, ease of conversion, and critically it also represents a simpler product for US investors from a tax perspective.
The main benefits
Structure
Before the establishment of the ICAV, the only viable option for an Irish corporate fund vehicle was to set up as an ‘investment company’ which is constituted as a public limited company (PLC) under the general Irish Companies Act. PLCs are subject to a number of company law requirements which are viewed as inappropriate for investment funds in contrast the ICAV is not subject to these requirements. As such there is a range of cost and administration cutting benefits. The main differences in requirements between a PLC and the ICAV are;
- The Central Bank of Ireland is the competent authority for the incorporation of the ICAV. It is both the registration and the supervisory authority for the ICAV.
- An ICAV has a governing document known as an instrument of incorporation (“IOI”). Similar to the memorandum and articles of association of a plc, the IOI is the constitutional document of an ICAV.
- No requirement to operate on the principle of risk spreading
- No requirement to have an annual general meeting once provision of at least 60 days written notice to all of the ICAV’s shareholders.
- No requirement to receive shareholder approval to amend the instrument of incorporation where the depositary is satisfied that such amendment is not prejudicial to shareholders and the amendment is not one which the Central Bank requires to be approved by shareholders
- Annual financial statements are allowed to be prepared at sub-fund level
As the ICAV legislation is distinct from that governing other Irish companies, it should be “future proof” against inadvertent consequences brought about from changes in Irish and/or European company law.
Tax
ICAVs are subject to the same tax regime as other Irish funds. The key components of this regime are as follows:
- NO Irish income tax at the fund level.
- Access to Ireland’s extensive double taxation agreements minimising the effects of foreign withholding taxes on returns on investments.
- 41% exit tax on distributions to Irish investors but NO Irish withholding tax/exit tax on all distributions to non-Irish investors and certain categories of Irish investors.
- NO Irish withholding tax/exit tax on all distributions where the shares are held in a recognised clearance system.
- NO transfer taxes on the issue, redemption or transfer of shares.
- Exemptions from Value Added Tax for many services required by a fund (in particular fund management services).
- NO hidden taxes (e.g. wealth taxes / net asset taxes).
“One of the main reasons that we are seeing US investors keenly adopting the ICAV is that it simplifies the US tax treatment. This is because the ICAV essentially allows taxable US investors to be regarded as if they had invested directly in the underlying investments of the ICAV.”
One of the main reasons that we are seeing US investors keenly adopting the ICAV is that it simplifies the US tax treatment. This is because the ICAV essentially allows taxable US investors to be regarded as if they had invested directly in the underlying investments of the ICAV. Thus allowing US investors access to relief under US tax treaties as well as access to tax credits pertaining to investments made by the fund. This also means that the complex US Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC) regime does not apply in this scenario. This management can be achieved because the ICAV is able to make an election under the US “check the box” rules to be treated as a “pass through” entity for US federal income tax purposes. Resulting in an ICAV being treated as a “partnership” (if it has more than one investor) or a “disregarded entity” (if it has only one investor) for US tax purposes. In contrast, an Irish fund established as a PLC cannot use the “check the box” option because it is deemed to be a “per se” corporation.
Conversion
Notably, established funds incorporated as ‘investment companies’ have the option of converting to ICAV status. Funds domiciled outside of Ireland can migrate into Ireland as ICAVs by continuation. An existing Irish ‘investment company’ can convert into an ICAV using a very straightforward conversion process. Conversion is by way of continuation, so that an ‘investment company’ converting into an ICAV keeps its identity and track 2 record. There will be no Irish tax on the conversion. A large number of existing Irish ‘investment companies’ will utilise the straightforward mechanism of conversion into an ICAV. To date there have only been a small number of conversions (roughly 25%), this is set to increase as a large number of UCITS managers are in the process of converting their ‘investment companies’ into an ICAV as part of the overall UCITS V implementation.
To date the ICAV has been a success. Combining the benefits of the ICAV with Ireland’s reputation as being one of the leading jurisdictions for the establishment and/or re-domiciliation of regulated investment funds, results in Ireland becoming the domicile of choice for funds looking to sell to U.S. taxable investors. Finscoms, through our chosen partners, will help you on your way to choosing a suitable structure and jurisdiction.
KEN CARMODY
Mobile Marketing
Email marketing, despite its’ rather low conversion rate, has remained a staple of both communicating with and maintaining relationships with our customers. No matter how many figures we read about the daily usage of various social media platforms, the one almost universal fact is that everyone checks their email….daily, if not hourly or even every few minutes.
The one almost universal fact is that everyone checks their email.
The proliferation of smartphones has led to us all being even more contactable, as it were, so if should be no surprise to see the maintained usage of email marketing. However, many organisations have not adapted their email marketing to reflect this new method of accessing one’s email on what is essentially a much smaller screen.
The following nuggets are meant to help broaden the scope of Mobile Email Marketing:
- Easy as you go: many consumers are multi screening when they open their email on their mobile device, hence their attention levels are not at 100%. So presenting them with an easy to read and actionable email is vital, otherwise the email will most likely be deleted upon opening, or unsubscribed to.
- Little by little: Taking the easier mobile route when one can. It is preferable to start with a mobile design email first, and then build up to a full desktop version of that same email. It is easier to expand a mobile layout, than it is to retrofit a desktop compatible email in a smaller mobile form.
- RSVP Response: Responsive Email Design, allowing your email designers to create different layouts that will recognise and adapt to the device’s display screen size will result in a versatile email blast that will access each recipients screen accordingly.
The foundations: A well-designed, attractive template is vitally important, adding a video feature or widget that can play in place will add an extra dimension to the already immersive world of the mobile device.
- Entice while you can: You must make it easy for your viewer to act, there are always barriers- loading times that are slower than usual, destination landing pages, some of which may not be mobile friendly. Engaging with the reader there and then is vital, try not to divert them to another web page. The copy and imagery of your email needs to entice them there and then.
EDWARD SIMPSON
Content Marketing – Worth it?
Edward Simpson
Why consider Content Marketing? Firstly you should understand why clients, investors, referrals, those that know you and those that don’t interact with you online, more importantly understand that simply pushing out content doesnt mean your latest task is complete, the opposite a poorly composed content clogs up inboxes of your target audiences…
- What content should you produce, over what time period? Articles, blogs, fund prospectus’, marketing materials, emails, newsletters, blogs, tweets, brochures, PR, pitch book, once a day/week/month? All in all with within the traditional and online world content marketing is a key foundation of an effective content marketing strategy, get it wrong ends up in negative branding to you and your business.
- I believe that there are three types of content, there is the ‘product’ content for example ‘why set up a company’, the there is the ‘product updates’ once you have set up a ‘company’ you need to be kept updated with changes, and lastly then there is the ‘marketing’ content, your news, or which conference you are speaking at, new staff members, recent transactions, blogs and so forth.
- We work with clients in managing or creating their content marketing strategies, from content rewrite for a website, to creating content for your blogs/social media assets, to a content style guide for your firm, to where the content can be distributed, to working out who will be producing your content as well as who will be in charge of editing and publishing content. Ultimately how to see the benefits, work through the analytics to present the tangibles, content marketing works only if it’s done right, move away from push marketing to pull – find out more by contacting us.
- Keep a backup of your content, better still create a ‘content pool’ in here place all your content both past and future, manage accordingly. Websites need updating, rewriting, as do all your marketing materials, we work with clients to create a content pool and how to manage this to fully engage and implement a content marketing strategy.
- The idea of creating all of the above mentioned types of content may be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Blog’s can easily be converted to other formats. Series of blog’s can be compiled into an article. Look for opportunities to use one piece of content in many ways, you can retweet/reblog/recycle content.
That said, content creation still needs to play a role in your strategy. Original content – whether it’s in the form of a blog, case studies, videos, infographics, etc. – will help you define the point of view you want to convey and should help set the tone for all of your content marketing efforts. Content Marketing creates that first impression of you, your expertise, your business, creates new opportunities, increases your circle of contacts, changes the mindset and much much more.
Content Marketing is not just about creating content, its where you promote and/or distribute it enabling it to become a valuable asset for your traditional and online marketing, building online communities, driving traffic to your site who are potential and existing clients/referrers. Here are the top ways to promote your content, both on-site and off. In todays environ with social media, websites and so forth, we work with our clients to become their own publishers, why spend money to publish content?
- Share it on social media networks. Be sure to let your Linkedin, Twitter, and Google+, followers know about your latest content. Share your content within groups on Linkedin, and only place CSR/Careers related content to Facebook.
- Many companies today are investing into ‘private networks’ this not everything needs to be in the ‘public’ eye, but the trick to these is to encourage your contacts to join, clients are often receiving similar requests from multiple firms.
- Send it to your mailing list (need to work on your mailing list so that it is clean and updated, the content is engaging to the recipient, and that all have opted in). By sending them valuable content it demonstrates your expertise, you’re likely to turn subscribers into customers. This is very effective for loyalty marketing, a law firm for example business’ comes from existing clients/contacts/referrers so use your content as one part of loyalty marketing.
- Ask bloggers/contacts to get the word out. If you have built good relationships in your industry, they will be open to informing their contacts about your content.
- Encourage others to share your content. Add to your email signature links to your content.
A good content marketing strategy requires time, an understanding of content marketing and money, but there are plenty of supplemental activities that can help justify the investment and lessen the emphasis on the daunting task of creating content. As the web becomes more and more saturated with content every day, our inboxes are crammed with ‘content marketing’ then its time to contact us, this is what we do we save you considerable time, we have the expertise to write your content or simply manage your content marketing, and save you a small fortune – this is our bread and butter.
CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS
Content Marketing Some of the most important trends in content marketing involve tools and technologies which really weren’t even in existence just a couple of years ago. It is essential for all businesses to keep up to date with the latest types of content, and use them properly to interact with potential customers. We work with clients to choose which of the ten doors to open, make the right choice, you don’t need a Rolls Royce when a Mini works just as well.
We have all heard the mantra ‘Content is King’ why churn out vast reams of content with little or no penetration, we can help you become your own publisher, building online communities around you and your practice area, not mass emailing your newsletter to all and asunder. Our inboxes are full of such content, the effort taken to produce the latest content only lends to negative branding ‘stop cluttering up my inbox – delete’ consider ‘pull’ marketing, your conversion rates with an inbound enquiry.
The following are the most popular types of content marketing:
- Blogs – A business blog is almost a requirement for any company to be successful online, you need to create that all important first impression, that you are comfortable working in both a traditional world as well as a digital world.
- Email Newsletters – Customers expect to receive high quality content from companies they are following, and delivering regular information via email can be very effective when done properly. 9 times out of ten newsletters are poorly put together and merely sent to contact database, ticking the box, marketing dine for another month….a newsletter can be so much more.
- Podcasts – Podcasts or other audio content allows a company to literally speak to their customers in a way that is much more personal than an advertisement.
- Video – Video blog is of the now, learn more how video can save you time, money, and in some cases generate new revenue streams.
- Social Media Posts – Linkedin, Tweets, Facebook, Google+updates and many others are great ways to interact with customers. They allow for a two way conversation between the company and the customer, which really helps to develop a strong relationship.
- Webinars
- Events
- Third party content distributers like mondaq.com
Quality is important – but how do you know if you’re really producing content that’s engaging your audience? Perhaps even more importantly, how are you measuring the results? Effective content marketing shows instant return on investment, it creates that all important first impression, leads to new work, however even today many websites are brochurial, content doesn’t engage the reader, it’s done merely because your peers are producing and distributing content.
Contact us to find our how you can be a part of the 10% of companies that are effective in their content marketing.
