At a time when many in the industry are implementing cutbacks across the board, fund firms would do well not to neglect their Web efforts, said Mike Ma, principal at consulting firm kasina.

Recently released research from New York City-based kasina show a significant correlation between a fund firm's wholesaler scale -- intermediary-sold assets under management per wholesaler -- and the quality of its Web site, as measured by an advisor Web site's score on the kasina Web index.

"There have been cuts in all cost areas and technology is one of the more harder hit ones," Ma said. He cautioned fund firms against reducing their Web strategy to merely "keeping the lights on."

kasina looked at 20 intermediary-distributed asset managers with AUM ranging from $4.1 billion and $804.4 billion, and found six that were outperforming their peers.

Those top performers had Web sites featuring interactive and comprehensive product information, timely commentary and insight and action-oriented business-building support. In addition, those firms were directing advisors to their Web site and maximizing customer relationship management and sales intranet usage. 

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