MutualFundWire.com: MFEA Wants You ... to Shoot For the Stars!

MutualFundWire.com

The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication

Monday, April 1, 2013

MFEA Wants You ... to Shoot For the Stars!

Mutual fund communicators, start your entries.

The MFEA has begun its call for entries to the 17th year of Star Awards, with a deadline for entry of June 28th.

The Star Awards are the mutual fund industry’s competition honoring excellence in fund communications, from annual reports to brochures to educational papers, websites and newsletters.

"We have seen dramatic improvement in the ways that fund firms communicate with the public," MFEA director Kimber Lintz told MFWire. 'We'd like to think that these honors recognize the huge responsibility that fund companies have in protecting the investors' trust."

To help applicants in the entry process, the organization has launched a new website devoted to the awards: www.TheStarAwards.com.

The site provides information on the various award categories, how entries are evaluated and the ceremonies for presenting the awards.

"We wanted to provide participants a website that would give them all the information they needed in a user-friendly environment. This is a place where they can land and find everything they need about the award program at their fingertips," Lintz said.

Lintz said that categories have grown significantly since the award program was launched 17 years ago. In the first year, the program only offered four awards. Now the organization presents 41 awards in three different categories: 16 in retail; 18 in the advisor area and nine in the plan participant category.

At the end of this week, her organization is going to launched a revamped www.mfea.com as well to help provide additional resources to help fund firms in their communication and education projects.

Here is the press release:

Company Press Release
Leading Awards Program for Fund Industry Communications Announces New Website & Call for 2013 Awards Entries

A Call for Entries has been issued for the 17th Annual STAR Awards, the mutual fund industry’s competition honoring excellence in fund communications. The entry deadline for 2013 is June 28. A new STAR Awards website, recently launched at www.thestarawards.com, provides quick and easy access to essential information including award categories, entry forms, videos, key dates and testimonials from past participants on why winning a coveted STAR Award is part of their firm’s annual marketing goals. “The STAR Awards have become very prestigious in our industry. They provide us with recognition for work well done, and show our teams the benchmark for what’s best in class in our industry,” says Peter Jones, President of Franklin Templeton Distributors.

MFEA’s STAR Awards is the only industry-wide program where mutual fund companies compete for the highest honors in communications for diverse efforts in education, marketing and digital initiatives. Awards are presented for efforts directed to retail, advisor and plan participant audiences. The prestigious Community Investment Award is also presented each year. This award recognizes a firm’s philanthropic efforts through special programs, partnerships, in-kind goods and services and employee volunteer programs.

A unique and compelling feature of the STAR Awards program is that entries are evaluated by fund industry marketing and communications executives. “Because winners are determined by industry peers, we believe the awards are an especially meaningful recognition of marketing communications excellence in the mutual fund industry,” says Matthew Alsted, Vice President, Channel Marketing & Brand Strategy at Calvert Investments. And, winning fund firms acknowledge a great sense of satisfaction knowing that all investors are better served by effective, impactful communications.

Winners will be announced during the STAR Awards Celebration on Thursday evening, October 24, at the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago. The Celebration will be held in conjunction with the MFEA’s Integrated Marketing Summit, also on October 24, to be held at Morningstar’s Chicago headquarters. The Integrated Marketing Summit is a day-long forum forsenior executives responsible for the development and execution of initiatives and strategies in the areas of marketing, digital, shareholder and advisor communications, corporate image and branding.

The STAR Awards is sponsored by Imprint, a Sullivan Content Lab, based in New York.