“We are committed to meeting client needs.”
“Our reach and leadership are global.”
“We have a culture of transparency and trust.”
“Our portfolio managers are highly experienced.”
These promises appear consistently across investment management—on homepages, in marketing materials and during client presentations.
Such statements are important and of course, they must be true. But they’re also table stakes, only meeting baseline expectations. They can’t create a memorable or compelling connection in a crowded field.
The real value lies in uncovering what matters to audiences with very different priorities—then addressing them through resonant messaging and an aligned brand experience.
For wealth managers, this starts with understanding how different generations of high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net worth (UHNW) individuals view and use wealth. For asset managers, it means uncovering what inspires confidence among institutional investors in always-uncertain markets, like:
- Pension fund managers
- Endowments
- Corporations
These audiences’ deeper motivators—not generalized claims about capabilities—build trust, enduring relationships and sustainable growth for the firm.
Yet across investment management, this kind of nuanced understanding remains rare.
What is the Current Messaging Landscape in Investment Management?
Industry research continues to highlight a lack of differentiation.
Citywire Selector‘s 2024 analysis found that 60% of the top 50 global asset management firms rely on just six “anodyne” attributes to define their brands. Large firms, despite their greater resources, often rely on the same descriptors as smaller competitors.
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To a degree, reliance on these safe, familiar attributes is understandable. They address core expectations.
Clients want to know their chosen partner has the resources, expertise and commitment to navigate complex markets and protect their investments. These messages signal core stability and trustworthiness in an industry where relationships and reputations are built over time.
Unfortunately, they also blur distinctions between firms, reinforcing financial services’ infamous “sea of sameness.” When every firm says the same thing, audiences struggle to see unique value, and competitors become interchangeable.
To win and keep their clients, investment management brands must go beyond promising basic competence and articulate what truly sets them apart—guided by deep understanding of audience motivations and expectations.
How Important are New Audience Insights in Investment Management?
The traditional approach to client acquisition and retention in investment management was clear: grow assets.
This worked fine in rising markets—as long as returns stayed strong and clients stayed satisfied. Performance alone built the trust that drove value creation.
Performance is no longer enough. Three forces permanently changed these rules:
- The 2008 financial crisis eroded investor trust in the entire industry, exposing how quickly confidence can be lost
- Digital transformation reshaped how investors engagement with financial brands, elevating transparency and personalization
- The COVID-19 pandemic reframed how people think about their wealth, purpose and legacy
Today’s prospects and clients look beyond “me-too” brands and baseline performance promises. They seek clarity, empathy and confidence—parters who share their values and will understand their evolving goals.
This development presents opportunity: to build brand strategies that drive differentiation by connecting more meaningfully. Firms that align their narratives with audience insights can create the relevance that keeps clients loyal through every market cycle.
The Story of One Wealth Management Brand Built on Understanding
The leaders of a wealth management firm with over $460B AUM engaged DeSantis Breindel to navigate a fundament shift: the accelerating transfer of wealth to the next generation of HNW individuals. It’s a transition that is redefining how investors view wealth itself.
The firm came to us with a respected name and a strong reputation as a category leader. But they knew they needed to evolve to strengthen their connection with the rising generations.
Our brand strategy process began with deep research into younger investors’ priorities and behaviors. We discovered that whether they were self-made entrepreneurs or inheritors of family wealth, they viewed money as a means to achieve greater things. To make positive impacts on the world. To leave a legacy reflecting their personal values.
This insight led us to a new brand based on the idea of having an investment partner who advances your purpose.
The new brand redefines what it means to be an investment manager for the next generation. It positions the firm as a partner in investing, thinking and planning to leave a personalized mark.
To support this new positioning, we collaborated with leadership to develop a modernized version of the firm’s legacy name, distinguishing the group from its parent while honoring its heritage. A new digital experience was designed to engage younger investors while maintaining continuity with longstanding clients.
The firm’s new narrative was then amplified across:
- Presentations
- Marketing
- Thought leadership
- An engaging event series for HNW and UHNW individuals
These experiences demonstrate the firm’s commitment to aligning with its investors’ broader aspirations, like philanthropy, entrepreneurship or creating societal impact. Each interaction reinforces the firm’s role as a partner in building personal and generational legacies.
Internal teams found the new brand energizing; as they engaged the next generation of investors, they knew that they were addressing their true priorities and motivators. In turn, investors saw—and experienced—a firm aligned with their hopes and ambitions.
This story underscores a fundamental truth: asset management brand relevance demands ongoing attention to investors’ changing needs and motivations.
As markets inevitably shift and attitudes about wealth evolve, only a brand rooted in audience understanding will build resilience and drive enduring growth.
Create Value by Building Deeper Connections with Investors
Today, building strong asset management branding requires understanding prospects and clients on personal, even profound levels. They must create brands that reflect what matters most to their audiences today while staying flexible enough to evolve.
Equally important, internal culture and employee experience must translate strategy into behavior, ensuring every interaction reflects the values investors expect.
Core attributes like global reach, client focus and trustworthiness will remain essential brand pillars. But a firm’s deeper value proposition—what it genuinely enables for its clients—must become the foundation of the brand.
This means:
- Continuously examining how different generations view wealth, work and success
- Building brands flexible enough to evolve while maintaining core strengths
- Creating messaging that speaks to both universal needs and distinct audience motivations
- Delivering a brand experience that fulfills the brand promise, aligned with investor values and priorities
The investment management firms that will thrive moving forward will go beyond the expected, building a bold, thoughtful, differentiated brand that becomes an asset for managing every relationship.
Messaging that resonates and a brand experience that pays off its promise give people reasons to believe in the firm. The brand reinforces the partnership as one they can truly trust, regardless of what changes next.
Ready to build your investment brand on understanding? Let’s talk.
Originally published December 17, 2024.
