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On June 18th, VettaFi hosted a webcast called From Idea to Market: Mastering the Product Development Lifecycle. The webcast covered how asset managers can best set up a product for success and the panel included VettaFi's Global Head of Index Sales Pete Dietrich, Head of Index Products Brian Coco, and Senior Industry Analyst Kirsten Chang.
Chang asked Coco about the evolution of indexing. Adapting and keeping up with the times is critical for folks making products. Coco shared that many indexes were designed for a world that existed decades ago. “We have a wealth of data at our fingertips today. It is important to design new benchmarks that fit the times we are in.”
Active management has been popular these days, but Coco offered that there will likely be a move toward passive again as mutual funds give way to ETFs. That said, he sees a lot of utility and possibilities in the active management space, pointing to JEPI as an example of active funds in the derivatives universe that have seen success.
Asked what clients should think about when creating their indexes, Coco said, “We try to advise our clients to think about what’s the gap that their product sells for?” Speaking to the nuts and bolts of building an index, Coco opined “It’s similar to building a house,” noting that it’s more than literal nuts and bolts that go into it, but you also need an architect and a planner to bring it all together. “We need to be flexible; We need to iterate quickly and often with clients” Creating a product that fits into an issuer's current lineup is important.
Identifying the difference between a fad and a theme can be the defining factor of a fund that fizzles and a fund that finds success. Some investment ideas come and go, but others have staying power. “Does today’s theme become tomorrow’s sector?” Dietrich asked, noting that themes like AI and Robotics, weight loss, and the green energy transition are all current themes that could become something even more.
ESG has been a bit controversial in the U.S. but continues to evolve. “ESG 1.0 was an institutional product. It was solving the problem of: I want benchmark-like returns, but I want to exclude things that do harm to either the ‘E,’ the ‘S,’ or the ‘G,’” Coco said. “I think ESG 2.0 will look a lot more like thematics do today.”
One of the challenges in creating a new product is the crowded market. Even established institutions will see many of their best ideas fail to hit the $100 million AUM mark. Dietrich shared that a full-funnel approach can help increase the odds. This means building product awareness through ads and media mentions, cultivating interest and providing market context around the product to those researching, and then helping sales teams close the loop at the end of the funnel. Dietrich pointed to VettaFi’s lead generation product, Soloist, which shares high-intent advisor leads with issuers subscribed. He also expressed how VettaFi is useful at the top of the funnel offering a suite of digital media tactics as well.
“We at VettaFi have 1.4 million monthly visitors to our websites and about 100,000 financial advisors that attend our webcasts annually. The question people must ask themselves is, ‘Do you know how financial advisors want to be engaged?’ The answer is – digital content.” To reach their AUM goals more efficiently, issuers need to be present where advisors are researching and engaging with them in their preferred manner.
Asked if VettaFi was best leveraged for newer firms, Dietrich said both have found utility. Newer issuers have leveraged VettaFi’s digital media, behavioral data, and expertise to stand out and make a name for themselves amid the crowded marketplace, while top five issuers have found the VettaFi platform useful for growing beyond their base. “We can just move faster than a lot of other shops,” Coco noted.
Moving fast is important because idea iteration is essential in a new product. Even good ideas on paper can fall apart when put to the test. According to Coco, “Some great ideas in theory just fall fast once you back-test them. It is important to fail fast.”
VettaFi has a large suite of services, ranging from indexing to digital distribution. Through a data and analytics platform and the biggest conference in the business in Exchange, VettaFi is well suited to being a full-funnel partner. According to Dietrich, this increases the partnership possibilities. “We generally want to partner with firms across the entire lifecycle.”
VettaFi offers a comprehensive suite of issuer services, ranging from indexing to digital marketing. In addition, it boasts one of the largest advisor behavioral databases and hosts the industry's most valuable conference, Exchange. It’s a company well suited to be an asset manager’s partner throughout the product lifecycle – from ideation and production to launch and distribution.
Interested in learning how to partner with us? Click here.
On June 18th, VettaFi hosted a webcast called From Idea to Market: Mastering the Product Development Lifecycle. The webcast covered how asset managers can best set up a product for success and the panel included VettaFi's Global Head of Index Sales Pete Dietrich, Head of Index Products Brian Coco, and Senior Industry Analyst Kirsten Chang.
Chang asked Coco about the evolution of indexing. Adapting and keeping up with the times is critical for folks making products. Coco shared that many indexes were designed for a world that existed decades ago. “We have a wealth of data at our fingertips today. It is important to design new benchmarks that fit the times we are in.”
Active management has been popular these days, but Coco offered that there will likely be a move toward passive again as mutual funds give way to ETFs. That said, he sees a lot of utility and possibilities in the active management space, pointing to JEPI as an example of active funds in the derivatives universe that have seen success.
Asked what clients should think about when creating their indexes, Coco said, “We try to advise our clients to think about what’s the gap that their product sells for?” Speaking to the nuts and bolts of building an index, Coco opined “It’s similar to building a house,” noting that it’s more than literal nuts and bolts that go into it, but you also need an architect and a planner to bring it all together. “We need to be flexible; We need to iterate quickly and often with clients” Creating a product that fits into an issuer's current lineup is important.
Identifying the difference between a fad and a theme can be the defining factor of a fund that fizzles and a fund that finds success. Some investment ideas come and go, but others have staying power. “Does today’s theme become tomorrow’s sector?” Dietrich asked, noting that themes like AI and Robotics, weight loss, and the green energy transition are all current themes that could become something even more.
ESG has been a bit controversial in the U.S. but continues to evolve. “ESG 1.0 was an institutional product. It was solving the problem of: I want benchmark-like returns, but I want to exclude things that do harm to either the ‘E,’ the ‘S,’ or the ‘G,’” Coco said. “I think ESG 2.0 will look a lot more like thematics do today.”
One of the challenges in creating a new product is the crowded market. Even established institutions will see many of their best ideas fail to hit the $100 million AUM mark. Dietrich shared that a full-funnel approach can help increase the odds. This means building product awareness through ads and media mentions, cultivating interest and providing market context around the product to those researching, and then helping sales teams close the loop at the end of the funnel. Dietrich pointed to VettaFi’s lead generation product, Soloist, which shares high-intent advisor leads with issuers subscribed. He also expressed how VettaFi is useful at the top of the funnel offering a suite of digital media tactics as well.
“We at VettaFi have 1.4 million monthly visitors to our websites and about 100,000 financial advisors that attend our webcasts annually. The question people must ask themselves is, ‘Do you know how financial advisors want to be engaged?’ The answer is – digital content.” To reach their AUM goals more efficiently, issuers need to be present where advisors are researching and engaging with them in their preferred manner.
Asked if VettaFi was best leveraged for newer firms, Dietrich said both have found utility. Newer issuers have leveraged VettaFi’s digital media, behavioral data, and expertise to stand out and make a name for themselves amid the crowded marketplace, while top five issuers have found the VettaFi platform useful for growing beyond their base. “We can just move faster than a lot of other shops,” Coco noted.
Moving fast is important because idea iteration is essential in a new product. Even good ideas on paper can fall apart when put to the test. According to Coco, “Some great ideas in theory just fall fast once you back-test them. It is important to fail fast.”
VettaFi has a large suite of services, ranging from indexing to digital distribution. Through a data and analytics platform and the biggest conference in the business in Exchange, VettaFi is well suited to being a full-funnel partner. According to Dietrich, this increases the partnership possibilities. “We generally want to partner with firms across the entire lifecycle.”
VettaFi offers a comprehensive suite of issuer services, ranging from indexing to digital marketing. In addition, it boasts one of the largest advisor behavioral databases and hosts the industry's most valuable conference, Exchange. It’s a company well suited to be an asset manager’s partner throughout the product lifecycle – from ideation and production to launch and distribution.
Interested in learning how to partner with us? Click here.
