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“Know yourself and know your competitors, and you will never be defeated”

Chinese idiom, from Sunzi’s “The Art of War”孙子兵法

In today’s commercial competition, understanding your own product’s positioning and the competitive landscape of the peer group is key to win new clients and maintain existing accounts.

Over the past few years, it is well-known that active managers are facing fierce competition from passive and smart beta products. The mostly used arguments from large passive players are substantially lower fees and lack of alpha consistency by a large number of active players, notably in certain asset classes where the mispricing opportunities are scarce, and fees are less justified. It is no secret that the institutional clients are also facing fee pressures from their own end clients, so they end up switching from active funds to passive funds to be content with benchmark-alike returns. At Go Seed Alpha, we truly believe there is still place for authentic active fund managers to stand out from the crowds and attract clients’ attention for what you offer! There are ways to win new clients without scarifying massively your fee margins.

  • Analysis of the competitive landscape of the asset class, identification of key competitors/peer group, strength and weakness of each competitor vs. your product.
  • Review your current sales pitch book and RFP questionnaire. Provide key angles of improvements on USP and articulating the “edge” of your product vs. competition.
  • Bespoke service: deep-dive analysis (including holding based analysis) of a named competitor’s product(s) and provide customised sales pitch to win the large ticket deal with a potential client, including providing support to find the key to the “hidden questions” of a fund selector.
  • Mock due diligence meeting with your lead manager and the investment team before an important client meeting, benefiting from our extensive fund selector experience. 
  • Ongoing support of your product development by providing real-time advice based on the competitive landscape changes or new market opportunities.