A version of this post appeared on KNect365.

While an asset manager’s performance will always have an element of cyclicality, its brand should be constant, helping to attract and retain assets irrespective of market conditions. Most companies acknowledge this freely and yet, in some key areas, many investment management firms often struggle to overcome the same brand challenges.

Differentiate from the sea of sameness

How many asset management firms claim to be “client focused”? How many talk about a “rigorous approach to risk management”? How many highlight “global reach” or “quality research”? How many reference their “experience” and their “commitment to generating positive client outcomes”? Pretty much all of them.

This isn’t to say that these messages are not true, nor that these qualities don’t warrant being highlighted. They are, however, no more than table stakes – reputational beta as opposed to brand alpha. Asset managers cannot expect to be recognized for these traits or to stand out on the basis of doing one or more of them especially well. In a market where everyone is competing in the same areas, being well-regarded and being differentiated are two very different things.

Every asset manager will have its own USPs and the areas for which it particularly wants to be known, whether it is its track record in a specific asset class, its systems and processes, its investment philosophy, its technology or its ethically and socially responsible credentials. The key is bringing these areas to life and making them relevant through the right spokespeople, proof-points and thought leadership.

Communicate your corporate culture

We are living an in age of responsible capitalism. Asset owners have an acute appreciation that people’s pension money should be managed and deployed in a way which is environmentally and socially sustainable and, consequently, the intermediaries who advise them can no longer simply point to strong past performance as justification to invest in a fund. Asset managers are now judged on a host of criteria, both hard and soft, and a good corporate culture, coupled with a social purpose beyond purely making money, is now a crucial component of how a company is viewed and, ultimately, its appearance on buy lists.

It is surprising, then, that no asset management company is regarded as an outright leader in corporate culture, according to our research. Despite 76 percent of investors telling us that they expect companies they invest in to take a meaningful stand on an important social issue, they do not appear to live by the same rule – or at least they don’t get recognition for it. When we asked 20 investment consultants and institutional media to assess the corporate culture of the top 50 institutional asset management firms, 7 in 10 of the all the results returned were “neutral”. In short, the overwhelming consensus is one of homogenous mediocrity. No firm scored on average more than 3.85 out of 5 (where 4 an above signifies “good”) and the average score across the 50 companies was 3.27.

Make your management team a part of your brand arsenal

Experts are making a comeback. In 2016, when Michael Gove, one of the leading voices in the campaign to leave the European Union, famously declared that the UK was “sick of experts”, it corresponded with trust scores for CEOs hitting a low ebb in Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer. His comments reflected social mores but times have changed and pro-populist, anti-establishment rhetoric has begun to cool. Between 2017 and 2018 there has been a 14 percentage point rebound in trust in CEOs as spokespeople, a 10 point bounce for Boards of Directors and an 8 point rise for financial industry experts.

Consider these figures alongside the scores for executive management teams in our asset management brand research – where the average score for the management teams of institutional asset managers was a lowly 3.26 out of 5. Investment management CEOs and their leadership teams have a much more benign climate – less cynical and more receptive to senior business figures – in which to get their point of view across, but are largely failing to capitalise on this opportunity. As previously mentioned, asset management firms are struggling to communicate effectively their corporate culture. The management team – as the ultimate stewards of this corporate culture – are best placed to achieve this.

Volatility may be returning to the markets but a strong brand should help any investment manager maximize tailwinds and resist headwinds in a changeable climate. A truly differentiated position, a clearly articulated corporate culture and demonstrably strong leadership are all foundational elements to gaining a competitive advantage.

Andrew Wilde is senior director, Smithfield, a Daniel J. Edelman Company.