LoweDown Blog
Don’t overlook an important piece of RIA M&A: the story you have to tell
With RIA merger and acquisition activity expected to continue at a robust rate in 2024 (see sidebar), expect to see a lot more deal-related news in publications like Barron’s Advisor, CityWire RIA and RIA Biz. This coverage is an opportunity for growing RIAs to tell their stories. With each liftout and acquisition, firms have an opportunity to reiterate core messages about what makes their [...]
Lessons from the trenches: what to expect when you are asked to attend media training
As part of our engagements with clients and as a separate standalone service, we’ve trained hundreds of spokespeople to talk to the media or speak on webinars and panels. Our media training can be anything from an abbreviated online training to a full-day program with on-camera practice. The goal is to get spokespeople comfortable talking to the media. Many are nervous. We talk about [...]
PR on a sliding scale: When to be proactive, when to be reactive—and when to be in the middle
Not all news is good news. But the best public relations pros know when to be proactive in releasing bad news and when to wait. We all love to trumpet our good news from the rooftop when we are launching new products or celebrating a major acquisition or new hire. It is easy to be proactive when the news is good. How about when [...]
Latest MuckRack survey sheds light on marketing/comms convergence, alignment
What’s everyone else doing? Of course, the investment industry is unique and, without question, investment marketers and communicators operate in an environment (including regulatory) that other communicators don’t. Even so, it can be interesting to learn how others approach their jobs. MuckRack recently published the results of a survey on a subject near and dear to our hearts—priority-setting, the collaboration between marketing and communications/public relations [...]
Vanguard ban on bitcoin ETFs [A communications case study}
UPDATE: On January 24, Vanguard posted a Q&A featuring its ETF and brokerage platform leaders Janel Jackson and Andrew Kadjewski defending the firm's position and explaining why they barred trading in spot bitcoin ETFs. Until yesterday, the firm had only commented reactively in response to press inquiries. Jackson said, “We understand that our decision on crypto is not popular among some investors, but many [...]