3 Pitfalls of Crafting the Right Pitch for the Wrong Family Office

Historically, the family office market is known for its secretive and hidden demeanor within the private wealth landscape, thus making it difficult to understand and analyze. As such, conventional prospecting techniques no longer contribute to business growth like they once did. However, as more information becomes readily available through the use of the internet, it has considerably simplified our ability to discover relevant information. Given this, it is critical to have a solid understanding of industry developments before seeking family offices to pitch. Understanding the private wealth landscape can play a critical role in your ability to connect with and ultimately pitch a family office for funds.

"Surrounding the global pandemic, a recent survey of U.S. and European family office executives revealed 20% of surveyed family offices had changed their investment style because of the crisis, and 27% were considering changes to their investment strategy. The remaining 53% were remaining calm and adhering to their investment style."

Beyond these macro-economic factors and the private wealth landscape as a whole, you must be prepared to take the best course of action when reaching out to potential investors as your success rate will be far greater. All it takes is one bad play - an unprepared phone call or a meeting without the right individuals involved - to harm the relationship and leave a lasting negative impression. On the contrary, smart prospecting will elevate your chances of finding and delivering your pitch to the right investor.

Below, we examine three common problems that plague modern sales teams with data-driven methodologies for overcoming them. 

Pitfall #1: Creating more difficulty by not having done enough research before reaching out for the first time

Breakthrough technologies have made it far easier to find endless information on the family office market. Although, due to the vast amount of information available, many find it difficult to pinpoint and track relevant information for  their specific use-case(s). This makes it increasingly challenging for asset raising professionals to tailor their pitch accordingly. From our experience, we have found that the keys to successful family office prospecting really comes down to your ability to actively embrace the power of data - by leveraging the insights from analytics and continuing to prepare for more digital transformation.

Uncovering commonalities between you and your point-of-contact is an important strategy in targeting family offices. Capitalizing on similarities such as shared alumni roots, overlapping years at previous employment stops and hobbies shared outside the office - e.g. golfing, fishing, hiking, wine tasting, painting, etc. - is really a game-changer when it comes to ensuring effective engagement. Comprehensive family office data and research platforms such as FINTRX make it possible to discover such similarities that drive considerably stronger conversations. Because each office varies from one another (Single Family Offices vs Multi-Family Offices), it makes leveraging commonalities all the more valuable.

Pitfall #2: Not having the right tools and resources to find the information you need about the family office you are targeting 

In today's rapidly developing world, it is imperative to have the right tools and resources for finding specific information related to your family office prospects. What we have discovered is that the origin of wealth and investment history of family offices are two key indicators as to what these groups find compelling today. Having the answers to questions like “Has this family office made any ESG investments in their recent past?” or “What does their direct investment history look like?” can be critical in tailoring your approach to suit the right investors. Because family offices are more likely to allocate capital to industries in which they made their wealth, it makes it easier to tailor your pitch and find investors willing to listen. Fortunately, advanced technical solutions emerging in the market - such as FINTRX - makes it easier to find accurate and detailed information in regards to the investment history of nearly 3,000 family offices worldwide.

The global family office landscape is in the midst of a profound transformation brought upon by a new generation of investors - whose attitudes and expectations have been shaped by modern advances, volatile markets and unforeseen global realities. Now, more than ever, it is important to recognize how these changing conditions impact the success of your outreach efforts.

Pitfall #3: Missed opportunities to ‘wow’ the right person and cultivate a lasting first impression with relevant conversation starters 

Driving meaningful conversations from the get-go empower you to find the right family office to pitch. In the past decade especially, family offices greatly enhanced their transparency in an effort to provide fruitful turnarounds for the family (or families) they serve. In other words, there are greater opportunities to seize - and a greater likelihood of success. Oftentimes, family offices await asset managers who are particularly suited to the needs and vision of their own. This helps ensure both parties are working toward a larger, related purpose. That said, it is important to utilize all available resources to tailor your pitch for the family office you wish to reach. Without humanized outreach based on commonalities and in-depth research, it will make it quite difficult to find a suitable match.

Conclusion

Delivering your pitch to the right investor is a large part of finding success in this market. As many asset raising professionals continue in their engagement efforts, it is important to recognize the common pitfalls of family office prospecting - as many can be avoided. The continued growth within the space has given us the unique opportunity to provide the tools necessary for ensuring smooth, productive and humanized outreach with family office investors around the globe. As the family office market continues to grow and evolve, the dedicated FINTRX research team works constantly to expand the breadth and depth of our platform. 

The allure and genuine interest in family office capital are not going away, as the benefits of securing an allocation from family office capital pools are vast.  We advise you to take a deep dive into this highly sought after and often misunderstood space.

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