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While we know private funds are just as the name states, private, creating a strong foothold in your firm’s public profile offers a considerable added advantage in getting in front of investors and even more importantly closing investors. Why? It not only adds to your digital footprint, but furthermore positions you as a thought leader in your given sector. A notable distinction that investors always look very favorably on. The competition is always mounting in competing for investors’ capital, you cannot risk holding a roadshow unprepared and going into this process blind. Many asset managers waste precious resources improperly strategizing their firm’s roadshows lending itself to less than favorable results.

Three common elements that funds will have to assess in kicking off planning a roadshow will be the following:

(1) Making a comprehensive and objective assessment on their fund’s strategy

(2) Isolating your target classes of investors 

(3) Identifying a distinguishable value proposition

These are common themes to evaluate in going through the planning process of a roadshow; however, many managers miss the mark on at least 2 out of 3 and even in some cases all three, unknowingly. This is a frequent reason as to why a fund may face lackluster results after their attempted capital raise. It is imperative to recognize that preparing for a roadshow takes weeks and months of planning. [Note: In some cases, for larger fund raises it can even be in excess of 4-6 months.]

These three previously mentioned themes are not always easily answered by the internal team alone. It can take a bit of introspection and an objective party like an advisor to really dissect the depth of your offering and what it can provide to each investor group that you are targeting. Once a fund manager can answer these themes in conjunction with a handful of other frequently cited investor questions, then the next step is execution.

The execution is of equally if not greater importance and needs to effectively mirror a battle plan. The process of enticing investors to review your fund requires you to think about this in two ways: inbound interest versus outbound interest. These are two principal concepts and are even more consequential depending upon the jurisdictions you are attempting to solicit within as some only allow inbound interest inquiries only.

Note: We can delve into that in another post, but for now let’s focus on how leveraging and integrating public relations will allow you to better capture the attention of allocators.

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Public relations as a discipline has a commonly recognizable tagline known as “creating buzz”. However, within that many things need to occur to yield the desired end result of ‘creating buzz’. But conceptually public relations as a function of your efforts is focused on helping investors find you AND help you to differentiate yourself from the competition. These are defining elements within a roadshow that contribute to your overall success. Yet, many times fund managers never think about merging public relations into their efforts because frankly they do not where to start and how to properly leverage it to their advantage.

Nevertheless, you should not plan a roadshow without having it fused into your fund’s roadshow battle plans. As it will not only support your fund’s goal of raising assets, but furthermore help in creating a lasting and powerful public profile that will also as a direct result, offer your current investors the confidence of staying invested. [Note: This is where the power of referrals can also be an additional unintended step to boost your assets under management or AUM]. It is about both retention and acquisition and in order to grow you have to build a plan with both in mind. No fund should plan or execute a roadshow without any sort of public relations considerations, in particular for those who are raising a first-time fund or looking to raise a significant amount of capital. 

A lack of a public relations efforts is a poor way to prepare your fund for its public debut, and in other cases its reappearance, as well as putting you in the position to risk leaving money on the table.

Preparation is the key to success in fundraising. Therefore, it is important for you to focus on providing your fund with the best opportunities possible. As a fund manager, you must ensure that you are taking the time to assess the full spectrum of what it takes to raise assets and what your fund needs to reap the rewards of a successful raise.