The Brook Green Team provides a broad set of expertise focuses on key (business) development objectives of fund management business:
| Investor Focus (Asset Raising) | Business Focus (Business Operations) |
| Jurisdictions, Cultural and Business Environments | Domiciliation – Options and Specifics |
| Investor Segments | Service Provider Intelligence and Selection |
| Manager and Fund Selection Processes | Compliance and Governance Requirements |
| Distributor Selection and Admin | Business and Marketing Infrastructure |
| Marketing and Promotion Strategy | Set Up and Launch |
| Investor Relations and Outreach Program | Day 1 Operational Requirements and Management |
Together those experiences provide our clients with a holistic perspective on what it takes to raise investment capital and launch and run a successful fund management business. However, no business is made equal and therefore Brook Green tailors a suite of services based on unique business requirements and development plans of each client, employing a modular approach.
Consulting and Advisory
This section has been designed to help our clients understand the European landscape from asset raising and business operations point of view, it is most suited to fund managers who are unfamiliar with the marketplace in Europe but are considering a business case for launch and consists of:
1. EMEA Market Review
A detailed overview of various investor segments and landscapes, including:
European asset management and investor landscape – focusing on major jurisdictions, illustrating the dominant features and main differences in each from fund marketing and regulation standpoint;
Investor Segments – prevalent investor segments in each jurisdiction and what this means for your products;
Resource Requirements – main considerations to make a decision to distribute in each jurisdiction.
2. Marketing Strategy
A specific strategy for asset raising:
Peer Group Composition –define a comprehensive competitor universe and create a concentrated list of closest peers based on features such as strategy and portfolio composition of our clients’ products;
Peer Group Analysis – detailed analysis of concentrated peer group looking at major factors that are likely to impact investor decision, such as performance, risk, structure and pricing;
Review of Existing Offering and Guide to Strategy Execution – summary of our findings, in the context of every major jurisdiction and sector, including advice on the most successful course of action.
3. Strategy Implementation
This phase establishes a well-constructed and focused business development framework. A series of important decisions will need to be made here, such as resource allocations and budgets, primary investor segments and jurisdictions to focus on and selection of any third-party service providers (if applicable) etc. Therefore, a critical component of implementation is the development of a robust business case. This section consists of:
Costs – defining costs for each component in the set-up, operation and management of the defined marketing and distribution strategy;
Revenues – projection of expected revenues and timeframes, based on our research, live data and market investigation, detailing which investor segments from previously identified are likely to deliver better results for time and resources committed;
Marketing Materials – review existing marketing materials with feedback based on our experience whether any adjustments need to be made to deliver the message in the most effective way;
Investors – lists that are constructed based on our analysis and are broken down into two sections – select names which Brook Green interviews personally in relation to proposed strategy and set up and a wider list which includes deep intelligence on every investor that we feel are likely to consider your products.
The aim of this exercise is to provide our clients with a deep understanding of the EU marketplace and a detailed marketing plan which can be used by either internally or by a third party to launch a successful marketing and distribution strategy in Europe.
Administration
Once the business case is established and major decisions are made based on market intelligence, implementation becomes a matter of setting up the defined administration structure. There are two types of administration to consider – Marketing and Distribution.
4. Marketing Administration
Whether internal or outsourced, every successful fund management business required a well-defined and coordinated Marketing Administration Structure, regardless of what investor segment are being targeted. This will allow to maximise each client relationship, minimise costs of acquisition and conversion lead times as well as provide effective management of regulatory risks. This ongoing management of marketing activity is specific to each client and includes the following:
Marketing Coordination –cooperation between external and internal marketing teams, for a focused and efficient effort
Marketing Support – road shows, investor discussions, events, PR & Promotion
Investor Support – investment allocations, performance reporting, distribution assistance
Marketing Compliance – adherence to all local regulations, restrictions and reporting requirements.
Service Provider Oversight – monitoring of various external parties involved in marketing activities and regular reporting and status updates for our clients
Marketing Administration should ultimately be an internal activity, however we at Brook Green understand that development of this competency from scratch takes time and are here to help take the pressure of so that our clients can focus doing what they do best – managing money.
5. Distributor Set Up and Admin
Depending on targeted client segments, some managers may find themselves wrapped up in Distribution Administration. For instance, a lot of discretionary Fund Managers, Asset Managers and smaller pension funds invest via platforms and managing distributions agreements with each can quickly become onerous – they are slow and expensive to set up and painful to maintain, resulting in increased overheads and loss of focus. Specific items of Distribution Administration can include the following:
Swiss Legal Representation – a requirement for all funds distribution and a pre requisite for entering into global distribution agreements with Swiss based private banks and platforms;
Regulatory Reporting and Monitoring – on going updates to restrictions, regulations and compliance frameworks for each intermediary;
Set Up with Appointed Intermediaries –forms, filings, procedures, system negotiation, materials, visibility and awareness by salespeople;
Launch on Distributor’s Platforms – promotional push for initial focus & follow-on discussions, organised programme for broad focus by each distributor’s salesforce;
Distributor Fee Management – proper daily calculations of feesfor each intermediary;
Distribution Network Expansion – planned growth into new opportunities
6. Distribution Administration
Distribution Administration: given the amount of work required to set up and maintain distributor agreements, many fund managers decide to outsource this particular function - just as a Fund Administrator is engaged for daily activities of fund’s assets, Distribution Administrator provides expert oversight and management of various daily activities involved in successfully developing and fund’s distribution strategy. Just as importantly, such service providers offer a “one to many” access for managers, where only one agreement is required with the service provider in order to access multiple distributors/platforms. The allows the manager to focus on actually running the business and avoid getting tied up in legal, regulatory, operational and accounting issues that arise from building a bespoke distribution administration network. Brook Green has close relationships with the most experienced Distribution Administrators in the market and are able to make top level introductions for our clients.
Raising Assets and Building Commitment
In order to build momentum of marketing activity, all prospective investor segments and jurisdictions appropriate for our client’s products must be covered making sure that the fund(s) are accessible and visible across the marketplace.In collaboration with our clients’ internal marketing teams and other third parties Brook Green provides a holistic marketing approach. Successful asset raising requires a “project management mentality”, working through various steps and workflows.
7. Capital Investigation
qualify and prepare prospective distributors and investors
Collaborate with existing channels to produce momentum
Investigate selected intermediaries and complete promotional set up
Contact prospects methodically, covering the basics to facilitate efficient manager introductions
Develop a roadmap to investment for each interested account
8. Capital Introduction
formally activate an investor – manager discussions
Launch promotional activities on selected intermediaries
Perform initial DD with interested investors to verify commitment
Manage productive discussions
Assist in various investment process requirements: KYC, AML, subscription, allocations.
9. Capital Development
Post-investment investor services
Support the manager with investor updates
Identify ways to build investor commitment through ongoing updates and dialogue
Explore new channels for expanding investor base, including working with existing investors to identify additional prospects
We believe that having a long-term approach, especially in todays environment, provides a sustainable business development strategy, one that will continue to function through various market cycles. When focusing on several complimentary opportunities, it is important to have in place the foundation that promotes flexibility and adaptability, allowing to add and change marketing resources as required without impending long-term goals. Brook Green’s structured approach, developed using decades of expertise across all team members, allows our clients to build their marketing and business development activities according to requirements at the time.