You’re delivering performance. But are you getting the flows?
In today’s asset management landscape, performance alone won’t get you shortlisted.
Advisers need more than numbers; they need belief. Belief in your process, trust in your people, and clarity in your positioning.
Because when every manager claims to be ‘active,’ ‘responsible,’ or ‘long-term,’ it’s the firms that communicate their conviction best that win the relationship.
This article explores the marketing tactics that help asset managers shift from a performance-led mindset to one where perception, trust, and clarity drive adviser engagement.
Let’s unpack how modern marketing builds adviser trust and turns perception into inflow, a million miles from a simple tick-box exercise.
The Hard Truth: Performance Isn’t Enough
It’s easy to assume that strong performance should speak for itself. But advisers aren’t just comparing numbers – they’re comparing narratives, presentation, and the overall experience of working with your brand.
You may be outperforming the benchmark, but if your proposition isn’t crystal clear, many advisers will never know.
Because before they analyse the factsheet, they judge the firm. Is your brand credible? Does your process make sense? Can I explain this to clients?
Perception is the filter through which performance is seen. If your positioning is vague or your marketing feels stuck in 2016, you’re out of the running before you start.
Start With Clarity: What Makes You Distinct?
If your messaging sounds like it could belong to any other firm in your sector, you’re blending in, not standing out.
Advisers are bombarded with ‘differentiated’ strategies every day – what they’re really looking for is clarity.
“High-conviction, bottom-up, risk-aware…”
Sound familiar?
Most asset managers say the same things. The firms that stand out are the ones that:
- Define their edge in real terms
- Explain their process in adviser-friendly language
- Back it up with sharp content that proves they’re thinking
If you can’t say in one sentence why a planner should allocate to your fund over another, your marketing isn’t doing its job.
Try this:
“We focus on sustainable UK small caps with pricing power and owner alignment.”
That’s something advisers can remember and repeat.
The right marketing tactics don’t just describe your process, they distil your edge into something advisers can believe in.
Modernise the Experience: Your Website Is the First Impression
Advisers may hear about you from platforms or peers, but their first real impression comes from your website. If it feels dated, slow, or vague, trust erodes before the conversation even begins.
Your site isn’t just a regulatory box-ticker. It’s where advisers check if you’re credible, current, and serious.
A strong site should:
- Clearly articulate your philosophy and team
- Host regular market commentary or fund updates
- Make it easy to find key documents and contact details
- Look like it was built this decade
If your homepage says “serving clients since 1994” but your layout hasn’t changed since 2004, that’s a problem.
Design is trust. Speed is trust. Clarity is trust.
Content That Builds Belief (Not Just Compliance)
Content should educate, reassure, and demonstrate thinking – not just satisfy compliance.
Stop publishing fact sheets and labelling them as marketing. Advisers want:
- Manager commentary with actual views
- Market updates with clarity, not disclaimers
- Asset class insights they can use with clients
These are marketing tactics that go beyond ticking compliance boxes – they build connection and credibility.
If your content feels like a compliance team ghostwrote it, it’s not helping.
But if you show up with intelligence and consistency, you stay top of mind.
You don’t need a blog every week. Just be present. Be useful. Be relevant.
Marketing Tactics That Equip Your Sales Team to Win
The sales team is on the front line, but too often, they’re handed stale PDFs and left to do the heavy lifting themselves.
Great content should never sit on your website, hoping to be found. It should be actively used.
We’ve seen firms:
- Turn updates into email sequences for intermediaries
- Convert webinars into fund explainers or cut-down clips
- Use visuals from factsheets in pitch decks
Arm your BDMs and distribution partners with content that helps them open doors and close gaps.
Marketing should feed the funnel, not just fill the archive.
Join the Dots: Consistency Is Commercial
It’s not enough to be credible in one place. Consistency across every channel, from the website to LinkedIn to RFP decks, is what creates a brand that advisers can rely on.
Your LinkedIn. Your site. Your RFP decks. Your factsheets. Your emails.
They should all sound like they came from the same place. One message. One tone. One standard.
Because when messaging, visuals, and voice align, your brand feels more mature, more credible, and more likely to attract institutional investments.
That consistency is what makes you look ready, and it’s where smart marketing tactics start to compound over time.
Ready to Turn Trust Into Traction?
If you’re serious about growing adviser flows, it’s time to treat perception like the growth lever it is.
We help asset managers:
- Find their message
- Sharpen their site
- Build a marketing engine that speaks to adviser needs
When you combine performance with perception? That’s when the flows follow.
