Unified Managed Account

Unified Managed Account Overview

Unified managed accounts are fee-based investment products that can help reduce compliance issue for mid-level clients, reduce paperwork and account administration needs, and customize investment solutions for clients. Unified managed accounts are sometimes referred to as Multi-Style Portfolios and they were first created by some of the large banks on wall street in the mid-1990s. These unified managed account packages are increasingly being marketed as all-in-one products to high net worth individuals(1).

UMAs combine the benefits of what most mutual fund wrap programs provide allowing clients to have portfolio customization and robust asset allocation services. What makes unified managed accounts unique is that they are open architecture. You can include ETFs, mutual funds, separate accounts, and individual securities all within one package. They also combine rebalancing, cash management, and risk/portfolio management choices across each class or sleeve of products(1).

- Richard

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Motivational Video

Professor Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch gave his "last speech" earlier this month where he talks about achieving your childhood dreams and learning unforeseen lessons. I read over 1,000 articles a year in the Wall Street Journal, the one on his speech is the best I ever read. It is very moving and motivating and if you haven't watched it or heard about it yet you should right now.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

- Richard

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Hedge Fund Decline

Hedge Fund Industry Decline?

I am shocked at the number of news reporters who are predicting the doomsday of hedge funds. I have read at least a dozen articles by journalists recently become asset management experts make claims that most hedge funds will soon fade away into the sunset. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Hedge fund strategies are growing, not shrinking and their returns are continually diverging away from common return patterns found in the public equity markets.

To their credit I have noticed that Fierce Finance's daily newsletter on happenings in the industry has been on target and reasonable in all of their summary reports. It's a pretty good all in one financial news report if anyone else is looking for one.

Read more articles like this within the Hedge Fund Performance Category of this hedge fund blog.

- Richard

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CFA Level 1

CFA Level 1 Preparation

Anyone else getting ready to study for the CFA Level 1 exam? I probably won't begin until early 2009 but I'd like to have a few people to study with or bounce ideas off of if you would if you are interested in sharing resources, etc.

Have you already taken the CFA Level 1 or done a lot of studying for it? I would love to get your top 5 tips for taking it to publish within this blog. Thanks for the help.

- Richard

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CFA Courses | Advice Tips or Online Resources?

CFA Courses

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Courses

Has anyone taken a great CFA Course? After I complete my graduate degree I want to jump right into my CFA exams and pass the Level 1 on my first attempt. I'm willing to spend some money and a lot of time to ensure that I do well and learn the material but I don't want to waste both on an outdated or poorly organized course.

Any CFA course recommendations? If you have a list of CFA study course optins or CFA tips in general please email them to me. I'd love to publish more cfa tips material to my hedge fund blog.

Read dozens of additional articles related to Hedge Fund Jobs by visiting the Hedge Fund Employment Guide.

- Richard

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Influencing the Influential

I am playing around with different thesis topics for this winter when I need to have mine approved. I've thought of conducting research on influence in investment marketing and sales, the psychology of influence and persusion in business, choosing one of Cialdini's methods of influence, or studying Influencing the influential. I think influencing the influential might be the most interesting. It would allow me to study how one can influence people that are CEOs, CIOs, or HNW individuals who have power positions in their day jobs. I came to this idea after realizing that I don't care about influencing 4,000,000 people. I just want to influence the 40,000 that make the decisions in the investment industry.

- Richard

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Single Focus

It seems in my studies at school and work along with lessons from personal experiences that having a single focus is one of the secrets of being successful. In branding focussing on standing for one thing is what gives you power. In Investment Marketing & Sales being known as an expert in one niche area is usually the description of successful third party marketers. In sports most athletes must specialize in one sport to make to the olympics or play professionally. While some claim that balance in everything is the healthiest route to take, it seems that having a single defined focus is one of the most important steps you can take towards being excellent.

- Richard

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9 Ways to Boost Your Career

The following list comes from a Brian Tracy audio CD. Feel free to comment with a few more ideas of your own.

1. Education

2. Skill

3. Preparation

4. Connections

5. Ethics

6. Positive Attitude Positive Image

7. Creative

8. Self Disciplined

9. Cash - $$$ - Flexible, Invest, Evolve

- Richard

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Laws of Branding

22 Immutable Laws of Branding

I just finished reviewing the 22 Immutable laws of Branding. It's a great book written by Al Ries and Laura Ries. If you are going to own one book on branding this might be the one you should invest $4 on through Amazon. The most important lesson stressed over and over throughout the book is that most brands have diverged from their initial focus and diluted their value. The authors are certain that the power of a brand is inversely related to the scope of its product or service offerings. An inch wide and a mile deep is their mantra, and in my experience it rings true.

- Richard

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Cold Calling Tips & Advice

Cold Calling Tips

Cold Calling Tips and Advice

1. Don't ask the prospect "How are you doing." You don't care how they are doing. If you cared you would have done some research on the company first and you would have something more intelligent to ask them. Might sound harsh but it is true. Do your homework first.

2. Keep in mind that thousands of people cold call and several people are probably calling the same or very similar prospects as the ones you are approaching. Everyone plays the number game and it is natural to not have your calls or emails returned. The goal is to develop enough perceived value so they will take your call the next time or call you when they are ready to buy your product or service.

3. Shoot for 30-80 phone calls a day. More is not always better but trying to do 6-10 calls an hour will keep you on your toes and always dialing more prospects. Create a game out of the process.

4. Smile while you dial. The tone of your voice and word choice both change based on your own feelings and facial expressions. Be happy and love your job and the people on the other end of the phone will take notice.

5. Call the CEO. Always call the CEO. They are the masters of every other department and if a call or email gets forwarded from them down to a VP or Dept. manager it is much more likely to get responded to then coming in through an analyst or associate with the firm.

6. Set the table. This is a point Brian Tracy makes in the book, "Eat That Frog." Sit down every night and take 20 minutes to plan out your work for the next day. Break the day into 30 minute sessions of complete focus completing your most important tasks before most people even get to work in the morning.

7. Prepare a standard email that you send out before you call. Anyone can send a great follow up email to a phone call, the trick is getting the prospect on the phone in the first place. Don't have them not take your call because they do not know who you are. Email the prospect introducing yourself and why you would like to have a 5 minute conversation in 3-5 sentences or less and call 10 minutes after sending the email out.

- Richard

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The Strangest Secret

For those of who you have not listened to it "The Strangest Secret" by Earl Nightengale is a great recording on how we think and how that makes us act. Every class I have taken here at Harvard backs up his statements made over 50 years ago.

If you are too busy or cheap to buy the recording the basic message is you are what you think. You reap what you sow. If you think great things you will become great. If you plant weeds by thinking about cheating the system or bad things in general you will become a bad person.

It might seem overly simple but it is something some people have never contemplated and most others don't keep in the front of their mind.

- Richard

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Gitomer Conference

Jeffrey Gitomer Sales Conference

I just came out of my first conference held by sales master Jeffrey Gitomer. His presentation was even better than I expected, he was funny, quick witted and knew his stuff. While most of his speech focussed on his Little Red Book of Selling the lessons contained within it are mostly the type of fundamental truths in sales that are always good to refocus on and make sure you are completing. I own 6 of Jeffrey Gitomer's books and today I bought his flash cards for the Sales Bible.

I got to speak to Jeffrey before and after the conference and he is like many corporate CEO's I have met. Everyone is always asking him to meet or for a favor of some type so he is a little bit numb to people complimenting him or asking to have lunch. I went up afterwards and said he made a real difference in my life and I intend on recommending him for some broker dealer annual meetings.

One interesting point he made was that while he is now a best selling author and wildy successful now and making millions of dollars a year his efforts have taken 15 years to come to bear fruit and there are many moving parts. He does private seminars, online training, a weekly ezine, public seminars, writes books, and creates audio video products. He is everywhere and it is paying off. It is an interesting lesson.

I would highly recommend his conference to anyone in the business of customer sales or selling. Which is everyone.

- Richard

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Filter Your News

Many people spend over 5 hours every week reading or watching the news. That is a lot of time. I have read a lot of articles of the past couple of years that suggest you should go on either a news fast and ignore all news so you can focus on results or go on a news binge and use the collection of almost random topics and trends help you get up to speed on what people are looking for and thinking about.

My best suggestion? Turn off your t.v. If you read or watch local news minimize it to the point where you just scan headlines to make sure you don't miss anything vital. National, world, and industry specific news seem to be the most important and valuable. I subscribe to 10 industry specific newsletters and flip through the WSJ on my way to work to keep up on new developments. I would also highly recommend a news editorial service such as the Fierce Finance Newsletter. They add some commentary to the news and pick out the highlights for you from sources such as the WSJ.

- Richard

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Marketing to CEOs

Targeting CEOs For Marketing and Sales

When networking or selling there are many advantages for targeting the CEO as your first point of contact. Obviously most CEOs are being cold called and emailed on a daily basis so this is not a new technique to closing a sale or landing a job.

The reason I am writing this blog entry is because I was just reminded of the power of contacts CEOs. I recently sent out 10 networking emails to a very prestigious investment firm on wall street. Nobody replied. During the same day I read an article about the president of a major private equity shop leaving his post to start his own company. I emailed him directly and he responded within24 hours saying to send him my resume and he would give me a call so we could meet.

I believe it was dumb luck that he actually saw and replied to my email but even if all 11 people had replied this president who will soon be starting his own firm is worth 20x the value of those other contacts I reached out to. I believe 80% of your valuable contacts will be leading executives or CEOs of small and influential or large and powerful organizations. It might not make sense for where you are at right now but I will always be asking myself.

How many CEOs did you reach out to today?

- Richard

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100 Sales Details Oriented

Sales Details

100 Sales Details Oriented

While doing third party marketing I'm finding that being detail oriented doesn't really sum up what you need to do. "Detail oriented" makes it sound like there are 3-4 things you need to watch closely or a need to be aware of changes or concerns with your clients. The reality in competitive sales environments is you have to be proactively detail oriented. You need to not only be cold calling but also writing, speaking, networking, creating unique marketing pieces, providing value to others every day in 80 different ways. Many of the people I call recieve over 150 emails and 50 phone calls every single business day. To be very successful you almost need a list of 100 ways to be proactively sales detail oriented or you will never rise above the noise.

If anyone has a list such as this. If I complete a robust list myself I will make sure and post it here to this blog.

- Richard

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Investopedia.com, CellPhones.com, CaffeineEnergyDrinks.com

Forbes Media bought Investopedia this year for an undisclosed amount that was probably in the tens of millions of dollars. The site had over 2.5M unique visitors a day and held over 5,200 definitions of commonly used and obscure financial terms.

Cellphones.com was sold by a man in Vegas for $4.2M. Before selling this man was earning $1,300/day off of the advertising revenue from this website.

I only buy investment related domains such as ThirdPartyMarketing.com, HedgeFundBlogger.com and HedgeFundRegulation.com, there are a number of ways to make money from purchased domains:

Ad revenue generated from relevant content and high Google rankings
Domain parking ad revenue
Leads generated through a form posted on the website
Leasing the website to an established business in the industry
Selling the domain to another "domainer" or a professional in the industry
Creating a full-fledged or virtual store based on the high traffic that a domain name receives - see VitaCost.com and ThinkGeek.com.

Some of my current web projects include:

- Richard

Tags: hedge fund, hedge funds, investments, investing, investors, mutual funds, etfs, finance, money, financial advice, private banking, wealth management, family office

NLP Certification

Neural Linguistic Programming (NLP) Certification

One of my good friends just completed a full certification course on NLP. It included voice pattern analysis, representational system identification, mapping, modeling, etc. He really spoke highly of it and he has a masters in Psychology and has seen hundreds of patients for therapy sessions.

I have always been very skeptical of the belief in NLP that you can identify the preferred representational system of an individual by watching their eye movements but my friend is certain that it is accurate over 90% of the time.

I'm not sure what my thesis is going to be on but maybe it will be based on NLP or some combination of Chialdini and NLP methods of influence to look into these issues further. It would be fun to get certified in NLP as part of my thesis project.

Has anyone reading this had training in NLP?

- Richard

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The Instant Millionaire Book

I read a lot of books on sales, investments, persuasion, marketing, influence, and NLP. I often take notes on great passages that I read and recently came across a very practical unique way of keeping yourself motivated and disciplined. I read this lesson in "The Instant Millionaire" by Mark Fisher. It is a great book, quick to read, and costs about $3 on Amazon.com.

The great lesson I got from this book was that strong people make their actions control their moods and emotions while weak people let their moods and emotions control their actions.

This simply struck me as an interesting point of view until I deliberately tried it both at work and at the gym. It is very similar to Brian Tracy's saying that successful people like and dislike the same things as unsuccessful people but when they face an important task they dislike they do it anyways. They do what they need to do to succeed.

These are pretty elementary ideas that most of you have probably read before in various places or might think are common sense but I find myself more productive and fulfilled if I remind myself of them every couple of weeks or months.

- Richard

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Capital Introduction

Hedge Fund Capital Introduction

Quick Link: List of Hedge Fund Prime Brokers

Capital introduction is usually the phrase that refers to the introductions that prime brokerage houses will make on behalf of their money managers to help raise their assets under management. Some prime brokerage houses will have several capital introduction professionals in house or a whole team dedicated to the work. The prime broker gets paid through trades made by the manager so the more assets they have under management the more they will get paid each quarter on those larger trades.

Most capital introduction professionals are paid on salary and bonus on overall trading activity and not on earning a percentage of fees from assets raised like a third party marketer. Capital introduction services have came under some scrutiny lately and there are talks of it going away completely due to a conflict of interests. Below are three links to help you learn more about capital introduction services in general.

If you are looking for a prime broker, capital introduction, or third party marketing services let me know and I can help you network and find a group that might work well for your situation.

Capital Introduction Links

Coming soon.

Interested in hedge fund marketing? Read dozens of more hedge fund marketing & sales articles along with details on third party marketing within the Hedge Fund Marketing Guide.

- Richard

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