Earned media gives asset managers more than visibility. When portfolio managers are quoted in respected financial publications or interviewed by financial media, independent third-party coverage strengthens credibility with existing clients and introduces the firm to prospective investors. The greatest value comes after publication: firms that extend media placements across their website, client communications, social media, sales materials and prospect outreach gain far more than those that treat coverage as a one-time event.
Why earned media matters to asset managers
Asset managers are always looking for ways to retain existing clients while reaching prospective investors. In a crowded marketplace, earned media can help a firm stand out from competitors with similar investment strategies, products and assets under management.
For asset managers, trust is critical. As the CFA Institute has noted, “Trust, in some form, is at the center of all financial transactions.” Third-party media coverage plays an important role in building that trust.
When shareholders see their portfolio managers’ commentary in respected financial publications or on financial television, it reinforces their familiarity with the people managing their money. They aren’t simply hearing the firm talk about its own expertise; they are seeing that expertise recognized by an independent media outlet.
For prospective investors, earned media serves a different purpose. A prospect who tells your sales team, “I saw your portfolio manager in a magazine article,” or “I saw you on TV,” is starting the conversation from a different place. Instead of your team explaining who the firm is, the prospect already has some familiarity with it.
Strengthening existing client relationships
Client retention is about more than just investment performance. Clients also want confidence in the people and firms responsible for managing their money, and consistent media visibility can help to reinforce that confidence.
When clients regularly see their portfolio managers discussing markets, investment strategies, economic developments or other relevant topics, it gives them another opportunity to hear directly from the people behind their investments. That visibility helps to reinforce the decision they made when they originally chose the firm. It gives clients a chance to see your expertise demonstrated outside of your own marketing materials.
The goal isn’t to remind clients constantly that you’ve been quoted in the press. It’s to make relevant coverage part of an ongoing communications program that keeps clients informed and connected to the firm.
Attracting prospective investors
For prospective investors, familiarity can make a big difference. Asset managers operate in a crowded field, and a prospect may be weighing several firms with similar products, approaches or track records. Earned media gives that prospect another way to encounter your firm before a salesperson ever reaches out, whether through a portfolio manager’s comments in a financial publication, a television interview, or an article they came across while researching a topic online.
When someone from your firm eventually contacts them, your name may already be familiar. Earned media isn’t a replacement for the sales process, and a single media appearance won’t turn a prospect into a client on its own. But it helps establish recognition and credibility before the first conversation takes place.
What to do with earned media after it’s published
One of the more common mistakes firms make is treating a media placement as a one-time event: the interview runs, the team circulates it internally, maybe it gets posted on social media, and then everyone moves on to the next opportunity.
The value of good coverage doesn’t have to end when the story is published. Earned media can be incorporated into your website, social media, client communications, prospect follow-up, presentations and other marketing efforts.
Sales and distribution teams should also know when portfolio managers or executives have appeared in the media. If a salesperson is discussing a particular investment issue with a prospect and one of the firm’s portfolio managers was recently quoted on that same topic, the coverage can provide a natural opening for that conversation.
A strong media placement may start as a public relations success, but its value extends well beyond PR when the rest of the organization knows how to use it.
Extending the life of media coverage
First and foremost, earned media should be easy to find. A firm’s website can serve as a central location for media coverage, interviews, commentary and other thought leadership. Someone who discovers your firm through a media appearance may visit the website to learn more, while an existing client may come across the same coverage through an email or social media post.
The same placement can also be shared through multiple channels over time, rather than treated as a single social media post on the day it appears. Depending on the coverage, that might mean:
- Adding it to the firm’s website or media page
- Sharing it through LinkedIn and other appropriate social channels
- Including it in a client or prospect email
- Providing it to sales and distribution teams
- Referring to it in presentations or follow-up communications
- Sharing it as an authorized reprint when appropriate permissions have been obtained
The goal isn’t to use every placement everywhere, but to identify the coverage most relevant to your audience and find appropriate ways to keep it working for the firm.
How earned media supports sales and marketing
Public relations efforts shouldn’t operate in isolation from the rest of an asset manager’s marketing program. When a portfolio manager is quoted in a major financial publication, that coverage gives marketing and sales teams something they couldn’t create on their own: independent recognition of the firm’s expertise.
That doesn’t mean a reporter or publication is endorsing a firm or its products but does mean an independent journalist considered a portfolio manager’s perspective worth including in a story, and that distinction matters to how the coverage should be used.
Earned media can complement a firm’s own educational content, market commentary, website, social media and sales communications. It can also help demonstrate that a firm’s investment professionals are actively participating in the broader conversations taking place across the industry.
Why consistent visibility matters
The benefits of earned media build over time. As reporters get to know your spokespeople and trust the quality of their insights, they may return to them for future stories, and other journalists take note of who’s being quoted on the topics they cover.
The same principle applies to clients and prospects. One article or interview may introduce someone to your firm, but seeing your investment professionals quoted or interviewed again builds greater familiarity. Meaningful visibility doesn’t happen overnight, and like most aspects of asset management marketing, the value comes from consistency rather than any single placement.
Making media coverage work harder for the firm
Getting media coverage is only the beginning. Asset managers should have a plan for what happens after an interview is published or broadcast, so relevant coverage can be shared with clients, introduced to prospects, incorporated into digital marketing, provided to sales teams, and used to reinforce the expertise of the firm’s investment professionals.
The objective isn’t to collect media mentions. It’s to make good coverage work harder for the firm, so its value continues long after the original story has disappeared from the day’s headlines.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is earned media for an asset management firm?
Earned media is coverage a firm doesn’t pay for and doesn’t fully control. A journalist or media outlet decides a portfolio manager’s perspective is worth including in a story. That’s what makes it valuable: clients and prospects read it differently than anything the firm produces on its own, because an independent third party chose to feature it.
How can asset managers use earned media after it’s published?
The mistake we see most often is treating a media hit as a finish line instead of a starting point. Firms that get real value from coverage build a short list of next steps into their process before the interview even runs, covering who reshares it, where it goes on the website, whether sales gets a heads-up, and what compliance may need to sign off on first.
How can media coverage support client retention?
Clients already chose your firm. Ongoing media visibility doesn’t win them over again; it quietly reinforces that they made the right call, by giving them another place to see the people managing their money speak with authority outside of your own marketing.
How can earned media help attract prospective investors?
A prospect who has already seen your portfolio manager quoted somewhere credible starts the sales conversation differently than a cold one. They aren’t evaluating whether your firm is legitimate; they’re already passed that question, and that changes what the first meeting needs to accomplish.