Fund investors call out private equity houses with substandard marketing materials, photography and websites, with three quarters of LPs advocating corporate videos in survey
A significant 88% of Limited Partners (LPs) surveyed in the Brackendale Private Equity Corporate Identity LP Sentiment Survey H2 2021, produced in association with Piranha Photography, said that even if a private equity fund was producing strong returns, it would matter to them if it had badly designed or poorly written investor marketing materials.
A lack of professionalism in wording and design suggests the General Partners (GPs) are not focused on their investors, makes it hard to understand their uniqueness and competitive advantages, and speaks of incompetence or arrogance, according to some of the comments made by LP fund investors.
A hefty 94% of LP respondents expressed a preference to see quality photographs of teams managing private equity funds. “We want to see who is managing our money,” one LP said. Substandard or a lack of photos led an LP to remark; “The fund manager is unlikely to be of institutional calibre,” and another “It is unprofessional and unhelpful. This is a people business!”
Some 69% of LPs declared they would be somewhat discouraged from making an investment in a private equity fund if it had a substandard website. Of this 69%, nearly a fifth went as far as to say they would be entirely discouraged.
Exactly three quarters of LPs surveyed deemed it was worthwhile and interesting when private equity fund managers produced corporate videos, as a way of showcasing their activities. LPs advocated seeing very short videos with updates on investments and some expressed preference for having the ability to watch in their own time, and over again if necessary.
LP respondents hail from across Europe and the US, and include a mix of pension funds, insurance companies, family offices and fund-of-funds.
It was reassuring to see that LPs do genuinely care about the quality of the information they receive from existing and potential investors. Financial numbers alone don’t count – if funds cannot be bothered with their approach it speaks volumes about their investment ethics.” Fay Margo, CEO, Brackendale Consulting
Piranha Photography has been working as corporate photographers and videographers in London and for Private Equity firms in particular for 20 years now. The report confirms the increased sensitivity and awareness have we have seen over the past two years by GPs to their public face. We now live in a very visual world and many subliminal decisions are made when looking at websites and marketing materials.” Douglas Fry, CEO, Piranha Photography
Full Survey Results
To download a pdf of the full Brackendale Consulting please click here – Private Equity Corporate Identity LP Sentiment Survey 2021.
Brackendale Consulting
Brackendale is global agency specialising in marketing and PR within the alternative assets space. The firm offers investor marketing, media relations, graphic design and investor pitching services to private equity and VC firms globally. We devise and manage effective PR campaigns, using our journalism experience and extensive media contact network to tailor stories to fit the type of coverage required by our clients. Brackendale provides well-written and compelling content for investor pitchbooks, PPMs, ESG reports, quarterly reports and newsletters, geared at increasing investor interest. Our in-house graphic design team professionally designs investment materials and presentations, as well as creating corporate identity and branding, logos, social media graphics and adverts. We offer online pitch training courses to help private equity fund managers pitch successfully to potential investors. For more information please visit www.brackendaleconsulting.com.
Real Deals Article Discussing Survey Results
Real Deals ran an article discussing the survey results which can be found here – Real Deals article.
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Professional corporate photographer, providing company headshot photography and video for businesses in London, the rest of the UK and Europe. Piranha are commissioned by FTSE100 companies and start-ups alike, for numerous projects, covering a wide range of work and styles. Portraits and office photography for use on websites, events coverage and PR shots for press and publications, as well as Board and location photography for annual reports. Using top of the range Leica cameras and lenses. We process the images promptly and to an extremely high standard.