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Investing is a long-term game, according to conventional wisdom. But as issuers look to grow their AUM, it is important to understand what is happening today. Investors want to know why one product is better than thousands of other products they could invest in. You can make a cogent case for the product’s investment philosophy and back it up with all of the data, stats, and projections in the world, but for many investors that’s not enough. They need to understand how it fits into the world today, as well as long-term.
Investors are constantly consuming finance media. What stocks are down and which companies are up might ultimately not matter in the long term, but it does matter today. And today is when you want investors to invest in your product.
Tethering your product to current market events can help demonstrate the value and utility of your product. Of course, getting third party media institutions to spill ink or provide soundbites about your products can be a challenge. This is why third party sponsored content could be a critical early- to midfunnel tactic.
There are many ways to market and advertise a product. Based on where a prospect is in the marketing funnel, every tactic has a purpose. Before we dig into what sponsored content is, it is important to note that it is different from a direct advertisement. A billboard advertising a restaurant might not provide many details about the restaurant, but it does give drivers passing by a touch point. They might not be hungry, but now they know the name of the restaurant.
In a similar fashion, issuers will often put up ads that mention tickers or, if on the internet, link back to landing or product pages. For many potential clients, a direct pitch can be offputting. Financial advisors managing large AUM know that issuers want their business and can be guarded against direct first-party appeals.
But sponsored content presents analysis from a third party. This offers a host of advantages for an issuer. For one thing, a third party is not beholden to the same compliance standards. Because they have their own authorial perspective, they can more seamlessly fold in ticker references and mentions.
Websites like ETF Trends offer ETF issuers an opportunity to sponsor channels. These channels operate like a micro-site to present financial news and information, while also being a home to product endorsements. Not only does this help with top-of-funnel ticker and brand recognition, but the content itself is useful for getting prospects further down the funnel to understand how and when a product might be used in their portfolios. It can showcase a product without being a direct pitch.
As much as investors are thinking about tomorrow, intellectually, emotionally, and experientially, it is always today. Today matters. Which means issuers need their products and services to not only fit into long term narratives, but make sense of the moment, particularly if a market moment is highlighting the need for a product.
For example, in 2024, energy started the year as the strongest performing sector in the market, but then fell off. When October rolled around, a geopolitical crisis between Iran and Israel suddenly altered the performance of the energy space. Having news and analysis that walked through the events leading up to the crisis and unpacking how the crisis could impact energy investors gave Alerian’s midstream funds a moment to shine. If investors had the market view that the crisis could be ongoing or worsen, they now understood that investing in one of Alerian’s MLP funds could give them more exposure.
Even if investors were to take up the opposite view, this kind of coverage and the ability to tether a product to a recent news event can linger in a reader. An investor who thought the crisis would be mitigated and energy would fall again might not invest right away. However, if their perspective changes in the future, they now understand MLPs to be an energy exposure option amid times of geopolitical strife.
Looking a bit more at the present, the Trump administration, through its tariff policy, is creating market uncertainty. The world is pivoting away from the U.S. dollar.
In a broader sense this means that now, more than ever, asset managers need to contextualize products amid current events. Investors are seeking guidance on what to do. This specific story itself, though, has ripples across a variety of sectors and products.
T. Rowe Price has successfully leveraged sponsored content to stay ahead of the tariff news and remind investors of the importance of active management. In this article, VettaFi’s Peters-Golden writes, “Active management can help a fund adapt to tariff news. For example, an ETF’s fundamental research capabilities could help it better predict which firms will be more or less harmed by tariffs. Rising supply chain costs may impact certain firms more than others. At the same time, fundamental analysis can also help identify firms with healthier balance sheets.” He then pivots to describing specific T. Rowe Price funds.
U.S. stocks have had an historic dominance in recent years, but nothing lasts forever. Though many analysts have noted that large-cap U.S. companies might be overvalued, it's hard for that kind of analysis to stick when the market news is just a line going up on large-cap performance. The Magnificent Seven and FAANG before them were juggernauts.
Issuers with international products had a more challenging time, but current events have helped them articulate their case. VettaFi’s Karrie Gordon, writing on the China Insights channel sponsored by KraneShares, noted in a March 19th article that “Economic policy concerns, trade wars, recession risks, and more plague U.S. markets. Meanwhile, in China, another round of policy support announcements and major earnings beats from China internet giants sent stocks surging in March. The KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB) provides exposure to the category and is up 29% year to date.”
Demonstrating the practical applications of a product helps investors understand how they could use it. Seeing a product perform well amid specific news events can help prospects move further down the funnel and begin to consider an allocation.
Sponsored channels are also terrific vehicles for helping investors think about complex stories in a way that can be beneficial to a sponsor. They have a capacity to both play offense by demonstrating investor use cases and defense by helping investors see the upside amid troubling news.
For example, back in 2023, international investors had questions about the Biden administration's new rules on China investments. This piece from Peters-Golden helped alleviate concerns investors might have about how these rules could impact their China exposures. Peters-Golden wrote, “Despite short-term pain from these headlines, however, analysts at KraneShares believe there’s a silver lining for investors interested in China. Yes, the U.S. has implemented a range of regulations on U.S. investors and companies’ ties to Chinese tech sectors over the last few years. However, KraneShares sees this latest drop as a positive for investing in China. Per the firm’s recent note, it believes these new regs could be the ‘final guardrails’ in the U.S.-China trade and investment relationship. In such a scenario, investors may be freed from concern about further, looming regulations.”
Issuers looking to scale their products and share their investment ideas need clear, compelling messaging. But that’s not enough. Like a well-constructed portfolio, marketing strategies should be diversified. Sponsored content can enhance proprietary materials and offer another effective way to connect with the investors who matter most.
Looking to be top of mind for investors and contextualize your products within the broader market environment through sponsored content? Learn more here.
Investing is a long-term game, according to conventional wisdom. But as issuers look to grow their AUM, it is important to understand what is happening today. Investors want to know why one product is better than thousands of other products they could invest in. You can make a cogent case for the product’s investment philosophy and back it up with all of the data, stats, and projections in the world, but for many investors that’s not enough. They need to understand how it fits into the world today, as well as long-term.
Investors are constantly consuming finance media. What stocks are down and which companies are up might ultimately not matter in the long term, but it does matter today. And today is when you want investors to invest in your product.
Tethering your product to current market events can help demonstrate the value and utility of your product. Of course, getting third party media institutions to spill ink or provide soundbites about your products can be a challenge. This is why third party sponsored content could be a critical early- to midfunnel tactic.
There are many ways to market and advertise a product. Based on where a prospect is in the marketing funnel, every tactic has a purpose. Before we dig into what sponsored content is, it is important to note that it is different from a direct advertisement. A billboard advertising a restaurant might not provide many details about the restaurant, but it does give drivers passing by a touch point. They might not be hungry, but now they know the name of the restaurant.
In a similar fashion, issuers will often put up ads that mention tickers or, if on the internet, link back to landing or product pages. For many potential clients, a direct pitch can be offputting. Financial advisors managing large AUM know that issuers want their business and can be guarded against direct first-party appeals.
But sponsored content presents analysis from a third party. This offers a host of advantages for an issuer. For one thing, a third party is not beholden to the same compliance standards. Because they have their own authorial perspective, they can more seamlessly fold in ticker references and mentions.
Websites like ETF Trends offer ETF issuers an opportunity to sponsor channels. These channels operate like a micro-site to present financial news and information, while also being a home to product endorsements. Not only does this help with top-of-funnel ticker and brand recognition, but the content itself is useful for getting prospects further down the funnel to understand how and when a product might be used in their portfolios. It can showcase a product without being a direct pitch.
As much as investors are thinking about tomorrow, intellectually, emotionally, and experientially, it is always today. Today matters. Which means issuers need their products and services to not only fit into long term narratives, but make sense of the moment, particularly if a market moment is highlighting the need for a product.
For example, in 2024, energy started the year as the strongest performing sector in the market, but then fell off. When October rolled around, a geopolitical crisis between Iran and Israel suddenly altered the performance of the energy space. Having news and analysis that walked through the events leading up to the crisis and unpacking how the crisis could impact energy investors gave Alerian’s midstream funds a moment to shine. If investors had the market view that the crisis could be ongoing or worsen, they now understood that investing in one of Alerian’s MLP funds could give them more exposure.
Even if investors were to take up the opposite view, this kind of coverage and the ability to tether a product to a recent news event can linger in a reader. An investor who thought the crisis would be mitigated and energy would fall again might not invest right away. However, if their perspective changes in the future, they now understand MLPs to be an energy exposure option amid times of geopolitical strife.
Looking a bit more at the present, the Trump administration, through its tariff policy, is creating market uncertainty. The world is pivoting away from the U.S. dollar.
In a broader sense this means that now, more than ever, asset managers need to contextualize products amid current events. Investors are seeking guidance on what to do. This specific story itself, though, has ripples across a variety of sectors and products.
T. Rowe Price has successfully leveraged sponsored content to stay ahead of the tariff news and remind investors of the importance of active management. In this article, VettaFi’s Peters-Golden writes, “Active management can help a fund adapt to tariff news. For example, an ETF’s fundamental research capabilities could help it better predict which firms will be more or less harmed by tariffs. Rising supply chain costs may impact certain firms more than others. At the same time, fundamental analysis can also help identify firms with healthier balance sheets.” He then pivots to describing specific T. Rowe Price funds.
U.S. stocks have had an historic dominance in recent years, but nothing lasts forever. Though many analysts have noted that large-cap U.S. companies might be overvalued, it's hard for that kind of analysis to stick when the market news is just a line going up on large-cap performance. The Magnificent Seven and FAANG before them were juggernauts.
Issuers with international products had a more challenging time, but current events have helped them articulate their case. VettaFi’s Karrie Gordon, writing on the China Insights channel sponsored by KraneShares, noted in a March 19th article that “Economic policy concerns, trade wars, recession risks, and more plague U.S. markets. Meanwhile, in China, another round of policy support announcements and major earnings beats from China internet giants sent stocks surging in March. The KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB) provides exposure to the category and is up 29% year to date.”
Demonstrating the practical applications of a product helps investors understand how they could use it. Seeing a product perform well amid specific news events can help prospects move further down the funnel and begin to consider an allocation.
Sponsored channels are also terrific vehicles for helping investors think about complex stories in a way that can be beneficial to a sponsor. They have a capacity to both play offense by demonstrating investor use cases and defense by helping investors see the upside amid troubling news.
For example, back in 2023, international investors had questions about the Biden administration's new rules on China investments. This piece from Peters-Golden helped alleviate concerns investors might have about how these rules could impact their China exposures. Peters-Golden wrote, “Despite short-term pain from these headlines, however, analysts at KraneShares believe there’s a silver lining for investors interested in China. Yes, the U.S. has implemented a range of regulations on U.S. investors and companies’ ties to Chinese tech sectors over the last few years. However, KraneShares sees this latest drop as a positive for investing in China. Per the firm’s recent note, it believes these new regs could be the ‘final guardrails’ in the U.S.-China trade and investment relationship. In such a scenario, investors may be freed from concern about further, looming regulations.”
Issuers looking to scale their products and share their investment ideas need clear, compelling messaging. But that’s not enough. Like a well-constructed portfolio, marketing strategies should be diversified. Sponsored content can enhance proprietary materials and offer another effective way to connect with the investors who matter most.
Looking to be top of mind for investors and contextualize your products within the broader market environment through sponsored content? Learn more here.
