Alpha Partners LLC

REALITY CHECK
DO YOU SEE YOURSELF THE WAY THE MARKET SEES YOU?

Aggregate scores* for 166 survey participants as of 05/19/12.
23% scored above 44
29% scored between 11 and 44
48% scored below 11

To see aggregate scores on a per question basis, click here.

FIRMS THAT SCORED ABOVE 44 operate in an environment offering the benefit of tight correlation between marketing and the reality supporting it.

One important contributor to such an environment is true conviction in the investment philosophy and process among key people within your firm. Also critical to a high score is performance attribution providing evidence of consistent investment process implementation.

An investment team that supports marketing/sales and client service is another high-scoring reality check indicator. If all three legs of the stool (investment, marketing/sales and client service) support one another, this indicates that asset gathering is linked to the enduring rigor of a well-defined investment process and consistent superior service.

A high score, however, does not mean that there is no room for improvement. High-scoring companies should beware of complacency and constantly seek new ways to do a better job for their clients. How can your company improve in the future? To answer this question, examine the list of survey questions to identify where you can turn "no" or "sometimes" answers into "yes" answers.

Remember, too, this survey is designed to test the reality supporting the marketing. But what about the marketing itself? A good question to ask from a high-scoring position is, "Does our marketing do justice to the strength of our organization?"

FIRMS THAT SCORED BETWEEN 11 AND 44 operate in an environment where the reality underlying the marketing could be improved.

Important potential contributors to improvement are performance attribution that validates the investment process and firm-wide conviction in your firm's philosophy and process. An investment team that supports the marketing/sales and client service teams may be another key contributor to a better score. If all three legs of the stool (investing, marketing/sales and client service) support one another, this indicates that asset gathering is linked to the enduring rigor of a well-defined investment process and consistent superior service. For additional sources of improvement, examine the list of survey questions to identify where you can turn "no" or "sometimes" answers into "yes" answers.

Remember, too, this survey is designed to test the reality supporting the marketing. But what about the marketing itself? A good question to ask, no matter what your score, is "Does our marketing do justice to the strength of our organization?"

FIRMS THAT SCORED BELOW 11 operate in an environment where the link between marketing and reality is tenuous.

Key contributors to a low score are responses indicating that your investment process may not be implemented with conviction and consistency. Another key contributor to a low score is a response indicating that there is not a relationship of mutual respect between investment professionals and marketing/sales and client service professionals. If all three legs of the stool (investing, marketing/sales and client service) do not support one another, this indicates that asset gathering is not linked to the enduring rigor of a well-defined investment process and consistent superior service.

If your company's score is low, you need to ask yourself a couple of basic questions. First, is improvement possible? The answer will depend on whether key people within the organization will commit to change. If there is no such commitment, then perhaps you should think about moving elsewhere. If commitment to change exists, then you can become an agent of change. You can help focus change where it matters most—tightening investment process discipline, for example, or developing a system that supports a more proactive approach to client service. To identify specific sources of improvement, examine the list of survey questions to see where you can turn "no" or "sometimes" answers into "yes" answers.

For more information, please contact Liz Hecht (435-615-6862). Click here to join our mailing list.

* Please Note: The scoring system places heavy emphasis upon the difficulty involved in improving a reality check indicator. For example, the ability/inability to provide performance attribution validating your investment process scores highest/lowest precisely because it is difficult to manufacture the desired performance attribution. The commitment to conducting objective client satisfaction surveys—a key indicator of the importance accorded to client service—is relatively easy to make and therefore rates a somewhat lower positive (or negative) score.