Business Challenge
FlexShares ETFs by Northern Trust maintains a commitment to supporting its ETF investors and wealth advisors with exceptional educational tools and resources. One method of engaging its ETF providing wealth managers is to provide guidance on maximizing their decision to offer FlexShares ETFs to the clients whose wealth they help build and manage assets and wealth.
FlexShares did not want to use a thinly veiled sales pitch that appeared merely to encourage financial advisors to offer Northern Trust’s FlexShares ETFs. The brand seeks to avail them of extensive research its ETF portfolio development team uses to undergird construction of its unique and acclaimed ETFs.
The FlexShares division of the esteemed 129-year-old bank engaged my services—along with a team of other writers and content strategists—through a top content marketing platform to help enhance and execute its strategy.
Approach
My passion for wealth-building and business development goes back to childhood watching family members and close family friends build wealth by building businesses or engaging in lucrative careers. I’ve worked as a business development consultant for much of my career. I recognize that wealth advisors serving their clients with FlexShares solutions have the same objectives most businesses do.
They desire to build and maintain a prosperous practice that generates wealth for them and their families by providing a higher level of value to their clients than the fees they charge.
To serve FlexShares ETFs as a client, I decided to apply my long-time industry experience and the keen understanding of the needs of wealthy investors I have to my content development work with the brand. To do that, I focused on foundational business development principles represented in the detailed brand pillars the Northern Trust FlexShares ETFs marketing team offered.
Accordingly, I’ve pitched, developed and strategically produced blog and white paper content that provides essential business development strategies. From behavioral finance and economics to understanding and engaging multiple generations of investors, central to each post is tactics for building the crucial aspects of client relationships that aid wealth advisors in maintaining affluent and wealthy investor clients.
Outcome
By maximizing my unique talents of as a strategic content writer and content communications strategist, FlexShares ETFs is building a customized library of business development and client relations content. Accordingly, the brand is accelerating its own growth by seeding that of its FlexShares ETFs wealth advisor partners.
This content is evidence of the method of building exceptional products and services Northern Trust has always used to serve its clients and partners well—bringing in the best minds available regardless of external identity to help. Here is some of the content I worked with the brand to produce that’s meant to help it remain an industry leader.
How to Effectively Educate Your Bigger is Better Clients About the FlexShares ETF Difference
Some self-managed ETF clients believe funds with larger assets under management (AUM) are safer and higher performing. That's often because they're comparing them to mutual funds, which often require larger AUM to perform well. As most advisors know, that's not the case with ETFs.
Moreover, while there's no guarantee any fund will perform in a specific way, FlexShares structures and supports its ETFs so they can generate the most optimal outcomes for investors regardless of their size. This blog post that I pitched developed and wrote, shows investment advisors how to convey the FlexShares difference to their clients.
(FlexShares ETFs by Northern Trust)
Using ESG as a Core Investment Option
In 2016, more than $8.1 trillion was invested in various ESG strategies, an amount that's equivalent to one-fourth of all investments professionally managed in the U.S. That number suggests to FlexShares ETFs that ESG investing may be growing in popularity and advisors would be wise to understand this development.
Given this trend, it's essential that ETF investor clients recognize the advantages of considering ESG as a core option within their investment portfolios. This blog post provides solid reasons for this investment strategy wealth advisors can share with their ETF clients.
(FlexShares ETFs by Northern Trust)
What Does An ESG Investor Look Like?
Attracting ESG investors means understanding their mindset and their investor profile. Generally speaking, FlexShares believes that ESG investors are savvy people who are purpose-driven in all they do, including where they entrust their money. Here are four other important characteristics of ESG investors.
(FlexShares ETFs by Northern Trust)
For some investors, of particular importance is how companies whose securities are part of some ETFs treat employees and address labor concerns. What are these ESG investors weighing when they're choosing ETFs based on social labor considerations?
This blog post, part of an ongoing series of business development posts targeting wealth managers offering FlexShares ETF products I'm pitching and writing for FlexShares, provides a short overview of what these investors will take into account and why.
(FlexShares ETFs by Northern Trust)
ESG and Social Labor Considerations
We believe that many of today's investors are seeking investments that put their hard-earned dollars into ETF portfolios that reflect their convictions about important social issues. They connect most with brands that apply ESG — or environmental, social, and governance considerations — in their daily operations.
For some investors, of particular importance is how companies whose securities are part of some ETFs treat employees and address labor concerns. What are these ESG investors weighing when they're choosing ETFs based on social labor considerations? This blog post provides a short overview of what they'll take into account and why.
(FlexShares ETFs by Northern Trust)
Working With Me
If your financial services or wealth management industry brand requires similar content communications strategic assistance and it operates with a corporate mindset similar to FlexShares, I invite you to contact me so we can discuss your custom project.
I offer a complimentary 15-minute introductory phone call about which you can learn by visiting “The Thrive Business Engagement Process.”
