Investment Marketing and Innovation Awards 2021
Welcome to the
How do we choose the winners?
The entry is detailing something totally new, or has a new approach to an existing challenge
2021 winners
Innovation
Relevance
The entry demonstrates an outstanding understanding of their chosen field
Success
The entry shows clear evidence of success, leadership and adoption
Introduction
The judginG process
What are these awards all about?
The past year has been like no other. As lockdown began and offices closed, public transport emptied, and investment marketers were dispersed to their homes. Normal working practises went by the wayside, with many a marketer juggling home schooling with a heavy schedule of meetings and calls, and the increased workload and pressure that volatile conditions inevitably bring. Since World War II, the average length of a bear market has been 13 months. The pandemic-induced bear market of 2020 lasted just 33 days. Coping with the “new normal” presented multiple challenges for marketers and their leadership: managing and motivating teams, pivoting to digital events as the face-to-face channel abruptly closed, keeping customer communications clear and confidence high – has never been tougher. Accordingly, there’s never been a more important time to honour the individual marketers, teams, and leaders who have triumphed over adversity, and the content and campaigns that have generated traction in the most extraordinary conditions in living memory. Congratulations to all our winners and highly commended – and to everyone who made the shortlist - for the most hotly contended IMAIAs in the awards history.
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Who are the judges?
Tap each person
Neil Massie
Fidelity International
Sam Blanshard
Natixis Investment Managers
Marcus Bolitho
Jupiter Asset Management
Ian Bruce
Baillie Gifford
Rebecca Christensen
Langcat Financial
Adrian Woodhead
Expedia Group
Fiona Mackenzie
BMO Global Asset Management
Philip Martin
Unique Financial Planning
Tracy Bain
Royal London Asset Management
Head of Wholesale Marketing, Fidelity International
Neil is a Fidelity International veteran of over 15 years. Since joining Fidelity’s pan European investment marketing team in 2005, he has held a number of roles across the organisation and has been Head of Wholesale Marketing in the UK since 2016. Prior to joining Fidelity, Neil was an equity portfolio manager.
Head of Content Strategy, Natixis Investment Managers
Sam is Head of Content Strategy at Natixis Investment Managers. Since beginning his career in 2008, exactly 2 weeks beore Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, Sam has held positions across both marketing and communication at asset management firms including Fidelity International, Carmignac and Candriam. Prior to joining Natixis Sam was Head of Advertising, Sponsorship and Promotion at Candriam where he developed the first world's first free-to-access accredited training platform for sustainable and responsible investing - The Candriam Academy.
Before joining Jupiter, Marcus was head of marketing for Merian Global Investors. From 2007-2012 he was head of UK marketing at BNY Mellon Asset Management. Prior to this he was at ABN AMRO Asset Management. Before this he worked for Charles Schwab Europe and started his career in advertising. Marcus has a degree in the history of art and history from University College, London.
Marketing Manager, Baillie Gifford
Ian has worked at Baillie Gifford since 2000 and heads up a team with responsibility for the planning and implementation of marketing campaigns ranging from UK retail campaigns for D2C audiences to the global Actual Investors campaign. Ian holds an Economics degree from the University of Edinburgh, the IMC and a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from the CIM.
Rebecca Christensen is an award-winning communications expert with over 15 years' experience across blue chip and start-up companies. Currently marketing director at the lang cat, Rebecca was part of the early team at Nucleus where she was responsible for creating their communications, brand and culture. With a 6-year stint as a self-employed sales and marketing consultant Rebecca was named as one of the top 100 small businesses in the UK in 2015. During this time she helped female small business owners grow their businesses by focusing on strategy, developing their propositions and improving their communications. Rebecca was also part of the media relations team that handled the successful flotation of Standard Life in 2006.
UK Marketing Manager, BMO Global Asset Management
Fiona has over 20 years' experience in the asset management industry, working across the marketing mix both direct to consumer and to UK intermediaries, as well as several large re-branding projects. She started her career at Friends Ivory & Sime, one of the first providers of commission-paying wrappers for investment trusts, delivering campaigns for successful investment trust rollovers, VCT fund raisings and product launches and was subsequently responsible for investment trust customer acquisition at F&C. She developed and delivered the strategy for marketing F&C's risk-targeted multi-manager funds to distribution partners for several years and managed the integration and re-branding of two multi-manager ranges on F&C's acquisition of Thames River. She is currently responsible for marketing BMO's ETFs and single strategy Oeics to UK intermediaries. Fiona holds a BCom (Hons) in Business Studies and Law from the University of Edinburgh, is a Chartered Insurance Practitioner and a Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing.
Jemma Gosling
BNY Mellon Investment Management
Head of International Field Marketing, BNY Mellon Investment Management
copy to come
Managing Director, Unique Financial Planning
Philip co-owns and manages Unique Financial Planning, a general advice business with thirty advisers operating from offices in Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Dorset and London, alongside a couple of other non-executive roles. Before this, he was Proposition and Marketing Director at Openwork for six years, with responsibility for product propositions, marketing, PR and leading its investment company, Omnis Investments. Prior to that, Philip spent two years with F&C Investments with responsibility for the asset manager’s UK retail proposition and was Business Development Director at wrap provider Nucleus Financial Group, which he co-founded in 2006. He had previously been a founder-director of consultancy Abacus Financial Marketing, working with more than 65 life companies, asset managers, IFAs and industry bodies on a variety of strategic and proposition projects.
Head of Marketing, Royal London Asset Management
Tracy Bain is a strong investment professional with a high degree of personal impact, diplomacy and credibility together with a skill set rooted in strategic marketing. Has worked at board level leading marketing strategy at 5 of the top 20 leading asset managers. A self-starter with flair, energy and initiative; coupled with experience of delivering strategic and tactical initiatives across the full geographic channel, product and marketing mix. Tracy currently works at Royal London Asset Management in January 2014 as Head of Marketing and is responsible for all elements of Marketing. Tracy has over 20 years of marketing experience within the asset management industry working in senior marketing roles at SWIP, AXA Investment Management, F&C, Newton and started her career at Coutts Bank.
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Firstname Surname
Kirsty Maxey
Teamspirit
Kirsty maxey
CEO, Teamspirit
Kirsty is an award-winning communications expert with over 30 years’ experience in marketing strategy, brand and communications. As CEO of Teamspirit, she focuses her time championing our mission to transform the world of finance for the better. We believe it’s critical to ask how the existing financial systems can change for a person or community - not to try and change them to fit the system. That’s why we work across the financial spectrum with high street names as well as being an advocate for those seeking to challenge the industry. Kirsty works with a broad range of financial services firms, from branding to distribution, from reputation and strategy to overall communications. She has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world including Aviva, Barclays, Santander and Fidelity. We recognise that to succeed you need to stay ahead of the pack. We were the first UK agency to gamify pensions, the first to launch mobile marketing into banking and the first to create tailored marketing packages for FinTechs to help them access the market.
Simon Hildrey
Liontrust Asset Management
Simon Hildrey is Chief Marketing Officer of Liontrust. Simon joined Liontrust in July 2008 having been a financial journalist for 10 years and winning both the IMA Freelancer of the Year and AIC Freelancer of the Year Awards twice. Prior to becoming a freelance journalist in 2002, Simon was Special Correspondent at Citywire and Editor of International Financial Adviser. Simon is Chair of the IA Retail Marketing Committee, has an MA degree in War Studies from King’s College London and a BA degree in Modern History and Economics from Manchester University.
eVestment, a part of Nasdaq, provides institutional investment data, analytics and market intelligence covering public and private markets. Asset managers and general partners reach the institutional marketplace through our platform, while institutional investors and consultants rely on eVestment for manager due diligence, selection and monitoring. eVestment brings transparency and efficiency to the global institutional market, equipping managers, investors and consultants to make data-driven decisions, deploy their resources more productively and ultimately realize better outcomes.
In partnership with
Accenture is an Irish-domiciled multinational company that provides consulting, technology, and processing services. Our purpose is to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity. We embrace the power of change to create 360° value for our clients, people, and communities. Accenture has 537k employees worldwide in 200 cities across 50 countries. We have served approximately 6k clients throughout more than 120 countries and collaborate with 185 partners in our ecosystem. With strong client relationships and deep industry expertise, Accenture is uniquely positioned to design, build, communicate and run experiences, reimagining the entire journey for customers, employees, patients and citizens alike. We embed this focus on experience across our services in a truly global manner. Accenture offers deep levels of industry and functional expertise by understanding different markets, understanding the clients in those markets and then underpinning this with Accenture’s capability on the technical industries and consulting side and this allows us to work with our clients as a true global partner on their side. We have served approximately 6k clients throughout more than 120 countries and collaborate with 185 partners in our ecosystem. Over the decades, Accenture has taken extraordinary risks and been forward pushing so that we can actually be very credible with our clients and then walk the walk with them. Accenture currently has 7900 patents and patents pending worldwide. The perfect blend of consulting and implementation by working through in detail has helped us gain that level of credibility amongst our clients. Moreover, our pragmatism for implementation of great idea is a distinctive feature which has helped us differentiate ourselves. We are working in different domains like Technology Innovation, Artificial Intelligence, Data and Analytics, Industry X, Financial Consulting, DevOps and a lot more to support our clients.
Category Sponsors
At The Scottish, our contrarian investment approach is based on a belief that markets are driven by emotion, resulting in stocks becoming mispriced – unduly hated or overly loved. When investors begin crowding around a particular stock or theme, the time to buy has probably passed. Contrarian investors look for signs of such exuberance, avoid following fashions or investing in ‘hot’ themes, which are often overvalued. Instead, we look for opportunities where expectations are low, seeking companies that are unloved but have the potential to recover. Our communications provide a different perspective which is useful for both experienced private investors, and those new to investing who require an element of education. It has become especially relevant during the pandemic, as investors, with more time on their hands, are exposed to self-appointed influencers, sharing their investment tips through social media. This peer-to-peer ‘financial advice’ can have adverse consequences with the recent Reddit frenzy being a good illustration. In contrast, the team at The Scottish analyse macro events and investment trends from various standpoints and regularly share their findings in written commentaries, videos, podcasts, and press interviews. We like our views to be widely available to provide a pragmatic, dispassionate perspective on the fundamentals of an investment case. We seek to filter out the market noise, reminding investors about previous stockmarket bubbles so that these can be avoided before they burst. We challenge consensus and seek to anticipate change, while many others retreat to the safety of the crowd. In essence, we aim to be a voice of calm among the maelstrom. If you’re thinking about diversifying your ISA or SIPP portfolio, our shares are available on all the major online share-dealing platforms or via stockbrokers and other financial intermediaries. To stay up to date with our latest developments, please subscribe at www.thescottish.co.uk/subscribe
in association with
Investment Marketing and Innovation awards 2021
Legal & General Investment Management
James Park
James joined LGIM in 2020 and manages the Channel Marketing and Product Marketing teams, covering all major client channels and countries excluding the US and Latin America. Previously James was Head of UK & EMEA Country Marketing Management at the ETF division of State Street Global Advisors. James has also held director-level marketing roles at BlackRock and Investec. He has an MBA from London Business School and the IMC. Prior to London Business School, James spent the first five years of his career at a specialist consultancy, working on quantitative marketing projects in the UK, Singapore and continental Europe.
Head of Marketing Strategy EMEA and APAC, Legal & General Investment Management
University of Leicester
Mike Saren
Allianz Global Investors
Katie Ramsden
Aberdeen Standard Investments
Kathryn Pinner
Mike Saren is Professor of Marketing at Leicester University, UK. He started out working in the oil industry however his subsequent research, teaching and writing has examined marketing in many sectors, contexts and countries, particularly on marketing relationships, new product/service innovation and sustainable marketing. His books include Marketing Graffiti: the Writing on the Wall (Routledge, 2018).and The Marketing Pathfinder: Key Concepts for Marketing Strategy and Decision Making, co-authored with David Stewart (Wiley, 2014) Professor Saren has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the UK Academy of Marketing and was Chair of 26th Innovation and Product Development Management conference in 2019.
Professor, University of Leicester
Katie is the Head of Marketing - Northern Europe, for Allianz Global Investors, where she is responsible for marketing across all client channels in the region (Benelux, Nordics, UK and Ireland). She joined AllianzGI in 2018, originally as UK Wholesale Marketing manager, to develop and deliver a focussed and effective marketing strategy. Prior to joining AllianzGI, Katie held a number of UK and pan-EMEA marketing roles at BlackRock. She holds a Human and Physical Geography degree from the University of Reading, as well as the CIM, IMC and postgraduate diploma in digital marketing.
Head of Marketing, Northern Europe, Allianz Global Investors
Kathryn Pinner joined Aberdeen Standard Investments in May 2018, and is currently Head of Investments Marketing, Global. Before joining ASI she spent 9 months consulting with MiP on a strategic content project for Schroders. Prior to that she was Head of Global Client and Channel Marketing at Aviva Investors (2015-2017), Regional Marketing Head UK for M&G Investments (2008-2015) and started her career in financial services working for Fidelity Investments (2000-2008). She is a marketing communications specialist with extensive knowledge of UK wholesale and institutional channel marketing as well as direct to consumer. She spent a number of years working at an international school and also living and working in America before starting her marketing career. Kathryn graduated from Exeter University with a BA Integrated Honours in English and Theatre, holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from Kingston Business School and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Head of Investments Marketing (Global), Aberdeen Standard Investments
Incisive Works
Tom Wright
Hardeep Tawakley
Columbia Threadneedle Investments
Sarah Shôve
Tom Wright has spent the past two decades building platforms and propositions in content marketing and online lead generation in multiple sectors. A former publisher, Tom has long had responsibility for large editorial teams and content strategy. Tom also has extensive experience in market research and runs a research practise at Incisive. Tom currently heads up Incisive Works, Incisive Media’s content marketing arm, delivering content marketing programmes in the investment, technology, and sustainability sectors.
Executive Director, Incisive Works
Hardeep Tawakley is head of financial content at Incisive Works, the content marketing arm of Incisive Media. Working with a range of clients across the retail and institutional financial space, her role predominantly focuses on project managing content strategy and creation and delivering the highest level of user engagement through innovative marketing campaigns. A former journalist for over a decade, she was features and comment editor of Investment Week for four years, and features editor at Property Week magazine prior to this.
Head of Financial Content, Incisive Works
Sarah has over 20 years' experience in asset management marketing, brand and advertising and is responsible for providing strategic direction to our EMEA marketing activity and for the definition, design and delivery of Columbia Threadneedle’s branding initiatives globally. Prior to joining the company, Sarah spent over 10 years at Close Fund Management, BlackRock (previously MLIM), and Gartmore. She holds a BCom in Commerce from the University of Birmingham and has a post-graduate diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Co-Head EMEA Marketing and Head of Global Brand Strategy, Columbia Threadneedle Investments
BNP Paribas Asset Management is a leading provider of quality investment solutions for individual, corporate and institutional investors. With sustainability at the heart of our company strategy and a commitment to making a positive difference to peoples’ futures, we offer clients: • The full breadth & depth of our investment expertise • A local footprint with global scale • A focus on sustainable returns • Diversity and culture • A resilient and scalable platform To bridge the gap between clients and the ever-unpredictable markets, our marketing and communications activities are focused on keeping us close to our clients with tailored and regular thought-leadership, events and digital initiatives. Throughout 2020/21, we have implemented various initiatives to meet our commitment to clients, including a weekly investment and market commentary podcast series, Investment insights with Alexa, offering access to voice-activated market commentary and thought-leadership, and a new Investors’ Corner mobile application alongside our revamped Investors Corner’ blog for insights from all of our investment experts. Amongst all of this, 2020 also saw the launch of The Great Instability campaign, under our Investigator Series umbrella, which used our expertise and in-house research capability to provide our audience with thought-leadership, as well as content and data from an investigative perspective – particularly relevant given the uncertain climate we are living in under COVID-19. The campaign explored how factors including economics, politics and climate change are converging to create heightened uncertainty, with far reaching implications for financial markets and society, with the view of allowing investors to make better informed investment decisions in these volatile times. To find out more about The Great Instability, please visit investigator.bnpparibas-am.com
Welcome
the 2021 awards
to fill
Best Website award
Campaign Innovation award
to fil
Content Marketing Campaign of the Year - Institutional
Marketing Team of the Year
Proposition Development - Discretionary Fund Management/ Wealth Management
Thought Leadership Work - Institutional
Best Podcast award - NEW
New copy for introduction in here
Explore our 2021 Awards
Click on a category to reveal the winner
Marketing Campaign of the Year
Find the winner
Active Fund Awards
Proposition Development - Asset Management
Event Innovation Award – External
Event Innovation Award – Industry
Best Use of Marketing Technology and Data – NEW
Best Use of Market Research – NEW
Open Innovation Award – Pandemic Edition – NEW
group awards
Group awards
passive fund awards
Active fund awards
Best Blog or Blog Series - NEW
Marketer of the Year award
Best Digital Experience - NEW
Best Use of Video (including animation) - NEW
Marketing Leader of the Year
Thought Leadership Work - Retail
Content Marketing Campaign of the Year - Retail
Pushing changes safely, quickly and sustainably
Best Continuous Delivery Product
Combining technologies to achieve a shared goal
Best Cloud Agile Technology
Best Automation Project
From data entry to machine learning, automation can solve many challenges
Content Marketer of the Year – NEW
lockdown legend award – NEW
Best Website Award
Who made the shortlist?
The award
Back to categories
About this category
The pandemic has made the website the most important communication tool for businesses in 2021. So, what have you done in the last year to make your website more informative, relevant and easy to navigate (UX) and to ensure visitors remain engaged and interested in your proposition? How are you building visitor loyalty and what different content formats have you embraced to help enhance the website experience? Entries to this category will be judged on how the business has used the website to stretch the capabilities of the internet and enhance the business proposition. Entries will succeed if the site stands out from the crowd in terms of its content, design, excellent user experience and engagement with customers. Open to all in the retail, institutional, asset management, and wealth management sectors.
Congratulations!
CLICK TO REVEAl
Who's the winner?
Capital Generation Partners Cerno Capital Partners Columbia Threadneedle Investments Man Group PATRIZIA AG Polar Capital River and Mercantile (in partnership with White Marble Marketing) Rize ETF TPT Retirement Solutions TwentyFour Asset Management
Why did we choose the winner?
"They were able to take a difficult topic and simplify it, a simple, easy to navigate, well laid out site"
Highly Commended: Columbia Threadneedle Investment
Best Campaign Innovation Award
The judges are looking for an outstanding innovation within a marketing campaign for a new launch, existing product or service that accomplished specific marketing objectives in 2020/21. The campaign may be B2B or consumer orientated or focused on intermediaries or the provider community. We are looking for genuinely innovative ideas and execution either in message, creative approach, or media, as well as demonstrable ROI. The judges will compare entries featuring a single medium against campaigns spanning multimedia. This award is open to all businesses operating in the retail, institutional and asset management, and wealth management sectors.
Gravis Killik & Co.(with Teamspirit) Octopus Investments PATRIZIA AG PensionBee
Mobile devices and apps play a major role in modern business, especially in 2020. Whether is hardware or software, the winning product should showcase an innovative use of technology to deliver provable business benefits.
“Standing out on innovation and showing the confidence to use a social platform like Instagram and power a conversation that many need to start but are afraid to begin.”
Best Content Marketing Campaign of the Year - Institutional
Entrants in this category should demonstrate the use of compelling content that has been able to engage the institutional financial services market. The campaign must include content that has helped achieve commercial or other objectives as well as resonating with the target audience. In addition to demonstrating creativity and innovation, submissions should produce evidence (preferably quantifiable) of impact in achieving engagement, return on investment or similar. Please tell us the aim of the campaign, the distribution strategy, and how the results were measured.
Aviva Investors BNP Paribas BNP Paribas Asset Management Breckinridge Capital Advisors Gravis PATRIZIA City Pulse
with highly commended
“A great example of converting complex information into interesting and arresting content for an extremely high-end audience with very exacting views. Tough job, well done.”
Highly Commended: BNP Paribas
Entrants in this category should demonstrate the use of compelling content that has been able to engage the retail financial services market. The campaign must include content that has helped achieve commercial or other objectives as well as resonating with the target audience. In addition to demonstrating creativity and innovation, submissions should produce evidence (preferably quantifiable) of impact in achieving engagement, return on investment or similar. Please tell us the aim of the campaign, the distribution strategy, and how the results were measured.
BNP Paribas Asset Management BNY Mellon Investment Management Charles Stanley Embark Group Fidelity FundsNetwork and NextWealth Janus Henderson Investment Trusts & Hub Octopus Investments Schroders
“Fantastic results on this campaign that speak for themselves, at a point when a lot of investment companies were backing off to see what happened they came in with a strong campaign and useful advice.”
Highly Commended: BNP Paribas Asset Management Highly Commended: BNY Mellon Investment Management
This award is for the best overall multi-channel campaign and can include advertising (print and digital), websites/digital experiences and content. The judges will be looking for evidence of marketing campaigns that helped brand-building, increased fund-flows, and/or customer retention in the 2020/2021 period. This award is open to all businesses operating in the retail and institutional financial services - or agencies working on their behalf - that have undertaken a marketing initiative, targeting retail consumers, intermediaries, or other businesses. The judges will be assessing innovation in the media, brand messaging concepts and the final execution and results. This award is open to all businesses operating in the retail, institutional and asset management, and wealth management sectors.
Baillie Gifford Charles Stanley Legal & General Investment Management Liontrust Ninety One Octopus Investments PATRIZIA AG PensionBee True Potential LLP Vanguard
“In a highly contested category with much debate from the judges, and despite a long track record of success they’ve continued to boost the brand and show brilliant results.”
Highly Commended: Ninety One
This award will judge teams that have made significant strides in promoting the brand they work for through marketing activities, can clearly demonstrate a major contribution to the success of the business they work for, and have shown original thinking in their messaging. Entries should show evidence of how the team has adapted over the past year in terms of communication and innovation of projects to produce outstanding campaigns and results. Judges are also looking for how the team relates to the business overall, how it is structured, the types of people in the team and why they work so well together. This award is open to all businesses operating in the retail, institutional and asset management, and wealth management sectors.
BMO Global Asset Management BNP Paribas Asset Management Charles Stanley Columbia Threadneedle Investments Janus Henderson Investors Jupiter Asset Management Liontrust Ninety One Global Marketing Team Polar Capital Royal London Asset Management Schroders True Potential LLP
“Impressively well organised, demonstrating strong campaigns, and powerful evidence on growing brand perception”
Highly Commended 1: BMO Global Asset Management Highly Commended 2: Ninety One Global Marketing Team
Marketing research sits at the centre of ensuring you are serving your target customers properly and it has never been more important. This award is for a market research project that has made a considerable impact on a product or business over the past year. Your submission should be able to demonstrate how you collected the data and shared the insights to produce a data-driven content asset or marketing campaign. The use of market research should have made a demonstrable difference in the overall production or promotion/reception of your product or brand. This award is open to all in the retail, institutional and asset management and wealth management sectors.
Aegon and NextWealth AML and The Nursery Embark Group NextWealth PensionBee Schroders
“A crucial topic for IFAs in the UK and benefits both advisers and end clients.”
Highly Commended: PensionBee
Best Use of Marketing Technology and Data
This award is seeking an outstanding entry able to showcase effective use of performance marketing technology and data that was able to enhance your campaign or product to a new level. Entries can include standout use of technology such as programmatic marketing tools, audience data capture, interaction with other channels or data or machine learning to directly inform creatives, and other messaging. Judges will be looking for marketers that have used a single or combination of technologies on a specific campaign or to promote a business brand, with evidence of customer engagement and ROI. This award is open to all businesses operating in the retail, institutional and asset management and wealth management sectors.
Fundamental Media Janus Henderson Investment Trusts & Hub Schroders
“Solves a common attribution problem whilst helping marketeers better understand what success really looks like.”
The pandemic forced asset managers to radically change their event plans in 2020. With face-to-face off the table, new ways had to be found to communicate with customers in the digital world, many of which were built from scratch. The judges would like to see how this was achieved with new platforms, processes, and marketing approaches. How did you deliver a great customer experience that also helped build the business brand? This award seeks to recognise the company with the most effective approach to virtual, in-person or hybrid events, and the processes behind them. Eligible events include adviser events, events aimed at providers, and events aimed at staff of investment businesses including virtual events. Entries can be a one-off event or an event series. This award is open to all businesses operating in the retail, institutional and asset management and wealth management sectors.
BNY Mellon Investment Management Cerno Capital Partners Fidelity International Jupiter Asset Management Neuberger Berman Royal London Asset Management T. Rowe Price Tenet True Potential LLP TwentyFour Asset Management
“Created an enjoyable, effective and participant experience.”
Highly Commended: T.Rowe Price
Event Innovation Award – External Providers
The pandemic forced event organisers serving the asset management industry to radically change their plans in 2020. With face-to-face off the table, new ways had to be found to communicate with qualified delegates in the digital world, often requiring platforms to be onboarded or build from scratch, or innovative speaking programmes. How did you deliver a great customer experience that also helped build your customers’ brand – how did you educate and inform delegates? This award seeks to recognise the company with the most effective approach to virtual, in-person or hybrid events, and the processes behind them. This award is open to all event organisers serving investment providers.
Apricity Compliance Dynamic Planner NextGen Planners The Lang Cat Unique Manager Showcase
“A great tool that covers a challenging step in CI/CD processes: deploying ML models quickly.”
“An impressive approach through actually increasing the reach of the vent, not being afraid to spread over a full week, the coaching element for speakers was crucial, and strong engagement and the stats to back it up.”
The sudden adoption of mass-scale remote working has resulted in significant changes in the way we collaborate. This award seeks to recognise those who met the challenges of the last year head on, and who never, as Winston Churchill said, ‘let a good crisis go to waste’. How have you reacted to the pandemic environment not just as a challenge, but as an opportunity? What new product/services/campaigns have been launched as a result, and how did you measure their success? Will your innovations go beyond the pandemic? How do you see them developing? The judges will be looking for entries that have turned negatives into positives, taking into account how the new concept was created, how it was received by the audience and how it translated into positive results. This award is open to all businesses operating in the retail, institutional and asset management and wealth management sectors.
Open Innovation Award – Pandemic Edition
Baillie Gifford BNP Paribas Asset Management Charles Stanley Columbia Threadneedle Investments Fidelity International NextWealth Royal London Asset Management The Verve Group True Potential LLP
“This is a great example of DevOps team work, delivering business objectives that matter to the customer whilst having to get used to really challenging working circumstances.”
“While many of the entries in this category focused on dealing with the digitisation of content or the challenges of adapting to working from home in 2020 the judges felt this entry demonstrated true innovation that went above and beyond products or solutions. The notion of creating a community and helping clients in practical ways is something our industry does not do enough of, but Charles Stanley produced an innovative program that was cutting edge, humbling and heart-warming. The knock-on effect of this great idea that was excellently executed is the client connection and increased brand recognition that came about as well.”
Have you developed a new proposition - a fund, fund range, or other investment/advice solution - over the last year? For this award, the judges are looking for evidence of innovative thinking behind the new or developed proposition. They want to understand how the proposition made a positive impact on the market, and how it was marketed as such. As the world seeks to ‘build back better’ in 2021 we welcome sustainable, impact and ESG propositions in this category. This award is open to any business operating in the asset management sector for a new launch or development of a product.
BMO Global Asset Management Royal London Asset Management Unicorn Asset Management
“Transformational for the business, with a positive embedded cultural outcome.”
“Serves the goal of becoming a trusted business partner - not just pushing funds, nevertheless showing tangible business results”
Proposition Development - Discretionary Fund Management /Wealth Management
Have you developed a new proposition - a fund, fund range, or other investment/advice solution - over the last year? For this award, the judges are looking for evidence of innovative thinking behind the new or developed proposition. They want to understand how the proposition made a positive impact on the market, and how it was marketed as such. As the world seeks to ‘build back better’ in 2021 we welcome sustainable, impact and ESG propositions in this category. This award is open to any business operating in the discretionary fund management and wealth management sector for a new launch or development of a product.
Brewin Dolphin PortfolioMetrix Redmayne BentleY
“With the developer-first adoption approach and focus on applying remedies, this tool is of great value.”
Category sponsored by
“The judges said this winning entry showed clear objectives, a well-thought-out plan and implementation in terms of its final product on offer. The proposition, aimed at a younger investing audience or those wanting access to investments at a lower cost base, is something that is crucial for our industry today and it was pleasing to see it being marketed as such.”
Thought Leadership is increasingly used as a driver of marketing projects through showcasing the knowledge and expertise of the provider. For this award, focused on the institutional investment industry, the judges will be looking for fresh thinking, effective communication of ideas, and evidence of genuine impact. The thought leadership entry can be published research, papers, blogs, market commentary in an organised series, or an academic paper, and entries can include videos and podcasts. This award is also a chance for academics and their institutions to showcase their work. The thought leadership work should have direct relevance to investments, for example: investment styles, how to achieve investment objectives, themes such as ESG, investment performance, new understanding of investor behaviour, pricing models, governance, or regulation. Content must have been published in 2020 or 2021.
BNP Paribas Asset Management BNP Paribas Fidelity International Gresham House Impax Asset Management Man Group Neuberger Berman PATRIZIA AG Royal London Asset Management Rothesay
“An extremely mature and flexible tool for various case scenarios of automation.”
“A look at hard evidence that ESG really does outperform, tapped into a knowledge gap.”
Highly Commended: Impax Asset Management Highly Commended: PATRIZIA AG
Thought Leadership is increasingly used as a driver of marketing projects through showcasing the knowledge and expertise of the provider. For this award, focused on the retail investment industry, the judges will be looking for fresh thinking, effective communication of ideas, and evidence of genuine impact. The thought leadership entry can be published research, papers, blogs, market commentary in an organised series, or an academic paper, and entries can include videos and podcasts. This award is also a chance for academics and their institutions to showcase their work. The thought leadership work should have direct relevance to investments, for example: investment styles, how to achieve investment objectives, themes such as ESG, investment performance, new understanding of investor behaviour, pricing models, governance, or regulation. Content must have been published in 2020 or 2021.
Aegon and NextWealth BNY Mellon Investment Management Fidelity International Impax Asset Management The Lang Cat The Scottish Investment Trust
Ejay Nsugbe Nsugbe Research Labs
“Innovative technology with a clear niche in the market.”
Highly Commended: BNY Mellon Investment Management
“Light, engaging and with a much-needed touch of humour is how one judge described this entry, which offered a unique and objective view on a topic subject. The judges like the fact this entry tried (and succeeded) in getting behind the ‘noise’ of this topic, offering insight that is often hard to find elsewhere. Well laid out and with good use of data and historical background, this entry challenged the market with a unique perspective.”
Best Use of Video (including animation)
The rise of video content has been significant over the past year as the medium becomes a critical way to communicate with audiences ‘face-to-face’. For this award, judges are looking for striking videos that captured the attention of customers and prospects. Entries should include great audio-visual production qualities or stand out for their great storytelling excellence. Entries can also be submitted because they represented a lightning-fast response to the needs of customers in a pandemic. This award includes animated films and embraces both commissioned and in-house projects. This award is open to all businesses operating in the retail, institutional and asset management and wealth management sectors.
Baillie Gifford Brewin Dolphin Brooks Macdonald Charles Stanley Columbia Threadneedle Investments Fidelity International Impax Asset Management Rize ETF Schroders TPT Retirement Solutions TwentyFour Asset Management
“This security-compliant solution, in a complex environment, is a great use of Kubernetes at scale.”
Highly Commended: TwentyFour Asset Management
“Following the unprecedented financial impact cause by Covid-19 in 2020, the winner of this category wanted to ‘break down barriers’ and connect with a new generation of investors. The judges felt this was well and truly achieved in a slick, engaging, and educating series of videos. With an excellent presenter that was able to get to the heart of the issues discussed, this series boasted great production values, with personal content that did not feel scripted. A great innovative idea that was well executed.”
Best Podcast Award
The judges for this award will be looking for compelling podcasts and podcast series, ideally with some element of innovation in approach, structure, storytelling, use of music or sound, and/or distribution. The judges are looking for podcasts that were relevant and compelling on both a professional and personal basis, and for evidence of successfully capturing the attention of customers. Please provide information on how the podcast was distributed and how you measured success (e.g., through listener data or content that was shared). This award is open to all businesses operating in the retail, institutional and asset management and wealth management sectors.
Aberdeen Standard Investments Algebris Investments Baillie Gifford BNP Paribas Asset Management Columbia Threadneedle Investments Fidelity International Man Group Quilter Cheviot Quilter Financial Planning Schroders The Verve Group True Potential LLP Waverton Investment Management
with Simon Dawson - Atom Bank highly commended
“Exceptional performance and exceptional leadership.”
Highly Commended: Baillie Gifford Highly Commended: Quilter Cheviot
“This entry stood out for many of our judges simply because it defines the very essence of what a podcast should be: unscripted, entertaining, and engaging. The two hosts’ personal experiences and distinctive tone worked well as a differentiator in this category and helped define why this was such a good concept for the target audience. It is content that just could not be replicated in a written format, one judge noted.”
The Verve Group
BNP Paribas Asset Management Money Alive PATRIZIA AG
Best Digital Experience
Content marketing is increasingly a digital exercise with a growing number of formats that are not supported by traditional print or broadcast media. This award is aimed at a widely defined group of digital modes of communication including infographics, interactive experiences, and formats such as eBooks, online guides, and enhanced video and animation content programmes. The entrants may be whole publications such as eBooks, or visualisations within a publication. The award will be based on those experiences that take full advantage of the digital medium and offer visually appealing and innovative content that genuinely engages the reader. This award is open to all businesses operating in the retail, institutional and asset management and wealth management sectors.
“Abhisek is well-versed in DevOps tools and practices and has clearly earned the respected of his peers.”
“Working in an industry where it can be hard to do something new, this entry was distinctive and smart, and left the judges wondering if the winner is blazing a trail year ahead of its peers. Whilst light on analytics and metrics in terms of users/uptake (no one had rated it on Amazon), and aware that it could simply be a marketing gimmick aimed at getting attention, the judges still felt it was a worthy winner simply because it is presented a new and unique way to get closer to clients, with stories delivered in an interesting and professional way.”
BNP Paribas Asset Management Cerno Capital Partners Fidelity International Gresham House Ventures Momentum Global Investment Management The Lang Cat The Scottish Investment Trust TwentyFour Asset Management
Best Blog or Blog Series
Blogs are a familiar building block of many content marketing strategies and for this award, judges will be looking for an excellent blog or blog series that has a human element and was able to successfully engage an audience through humour, personal stories, or a professional viewpoint. The blog or blog series should have been used as a form of communication to reach an audience in a more informal way than traditional marketing. The award will be based as much on the quality of the blogging and evidence of audience engagement as on the innovative and human element. The blog series should have run at least in part during 2020. This award is open to all businesses operating in the retail, institutional and asset management and wealth management sectors.
Congratulations
"Excellent use of AI to enable increased accessibility of video content. It is relevant for all sectors, especially teaching and learning, to save time and costs."
Highly Commended: The Lang Cat
“Great example of a best-in-class blog that is well executed, with thought given to how content is consumed and the purpose of the blog itself.”
Ashley Carson, BNY Mellon Investment Management Chloe Caudell, AXA Investment Managers Ellie Freeman, Brown Shipley Kate Gillespie, Aviva Investors Tom Lamb, True Potential LLP
Marketer of the Year
This award is open to marketers in a junior or executive role within the company. Good marketers act as the lynch pin for their products. To win this award the judges will be looking for a marketer either at a junior or mid-to-senior level position who has demonstrated a genuinely fresh and innovative approach to their role. From building marketing campaigns that use innovative platforms to reach their audience, to making your marketing more intelligent and effective during a challenging year. Judges will be looking for individuals who were able to demonstrate their approach and strategy delivered real results. For the 2021 awards, we are first inviting nominations. Nominated marketers will then be asked to submit an entry form once the entry period closes.
“With his impressive achievements and accolades, Sunny Agrawal is an expert DevOps engineer.”
Highly Commended: Tom Lamb, True Potential LLP
“Ashley provided an entry in this category that the judges felt stood out for several reasons –particularly for the way in which she was able to transform operations at a multiple stakeholder level across the business. The data and audience-led changes she implemented at a global and digital level across the business had a significant impact, with the efficiency of a new system allowing the group to better use data and reprioritise resource allocation at a granular level. The judges felt she demonstrated in her entry why marketing operations is today such an important part of this role and just how big a difference it can make to wider business growth as well.”
Ashley Carson BNY Mellon Investment Management
Andy McQuillan, Legal & General Investment Management Arlette Lee, Aravis Capital Limited Courtney Waterman, Ninety One Csilla Balint, iPensions Group Gael Thienpont, Rize ETF Jonathan Roseweir, Octopus Investments Lucy Capon, Sarasin & Partners Noreen Biddle Shah, State Street / reboot Rosie Guest, Apex Group Tessa Inglis, Charles Stanley Vik Heerah, Polar Capital
This award is open to marketers in a senior/heads of role within the company. The judges are looking for marketing leaders who have made a difference to the investment industry over the last year, adding value for customers and providers, growing brands, and working on a series of objectives concurrently – as well as pulling all parts of their team together. For the 2021 awards, we are first inviting nominations. The nominated marketing leaders will then be asked to submit an entry form once the entry period closes.
“This is a standout DevOps tool, and we hope the team remains as focused on customers as we've seen in their entry.”
Highly Commended: Noreen Biddle Shah, State Street / reboot Highly Commended: Tessa Inglis, Charles Stanley
“Great evidence of setting a culture within marketing to allow it to thrive.”
Andy McQuillan Legal & General Investment Management
Ben Faulkner, EQ Investors Darshini Shah, Man Group Grahame Herbert, True Potential Helen Russell-Hughes, Charles Stanley Wealth Managers James Whiteman, Aviva Investors Nerissa Parker, Charles Stanley Wealth Managers
Content Marketer of the Year
This award is looking to honour a visionary content expert that has been able to create or lead a unique content initiative within their organisation and achieved significant success. Judges are looking for an individual that has not been afraid to experiment with new content ideas or creative digital experiences and has been able to produce a content-based product that is genuinely valuable to readers. We are looking for amazing storytellers and visually informative content programmes that achieve core marketing needs but also drive real results. Up to three examples of work(s) should be submitted with your entry. For the 2021 awards, we are first inviting nominations. Nominated marketers will then be asked to submit an entry form once the entry period closes.
“Red Hat demonstrates a great and innovative way to engage customers to develop and mature their DevOps journeys.”
Highly Commended: Helen Russell-Hughes, Charles Stanley Wealth Managers
“The judges felt James’ entry did not just focus on well-written and data-focused content but sought to tell an engaging story that offered real value to the end audience. This was content with a purpose, with a well-thought-out rationale and marketing strategy behind every story. The use of AI and machine learning to drive personalised customer journeys and allow readers to experience the tangible value of the wealth management industry – and help build trust with clients – is unique and helped this entry stand out ahead of the others.”
James Whiteman Aviva Investors
Claire Richards, Allianz Global Investors Emily Askham, AXA Investment Managers Gael Thienpont, Rize ETF Lakshmi Woodings, Apex Group Ltd Sam Taylor, Quilter Financial Planning Sanchari Roy, Allianz Global Investors
Lockdown Legend Award
In a year that has been challenging in so many ways, this award aims to recognise an individual who has been a source of inspiration or support for a marketing team over the past year, or an individual who has creatively adapted their marketing initiatives over the past year to help their business or the wider community. The judges are looking for a pragmatic and strategic individual who has gone the extra mile during lockdown and has understood the importance of good relationships and communications to deliver excellent marketing output, or extraordinary team cohesion during challenging times. How did they help you succeed as a team or individually in 2020/2021? Did they place the team/brand’s success ahead of their own? You can nominate yourself or another marketer. Nominated marketers will then be asked to submit an entry form once the entry period closes.
“Great approach to challenging conditions, underpinned by a true people-first approach.”
Highly Commended: Everyone!
“Focus on her team, the company, and the wider community - plus being new to the organisation and making an impression.”
Claire Richards Allianz Global Investors
