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The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication
an InvestmentWires' Publication
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MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication |
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Friday, September 13, 2013 These Are Four Key Steps for Embracing Advisors The path to embracing the advisor market started two years ago for AlpineWoods Capital [profile]. You can say it started with the hiring of Patrick Coyne as managing director, head of marketing for the firm. Coyne, who was previously director of marketing communications at Calamos Investments [profile], has been the driving force for this process. "We made the decision two years ago to strategically think about how to offer these funds to a broader clientele. We made the decision to work more closely with advisors," Coyne recently told MFWire during an interview. Alpine has been around since 1998. A family business, it was founded by Sam Lieber, who started at Evergreen Funds, which had been sold in 1994. His father, Steve Lieber was the founder of Evergreen Funds, and is a partner with Sam at AlpineWoods Capital Investors, LLC, and advisor to the Alpine Funds. The firm has 15 open-ended funds and three closed end funds. The funds they launched were no-load funds that were sold direct as well as through Fidelity and Schwab, etc., and over the years they launched a few closed end funds in 2007. The Path to Embracing Advisors Here is how Alpine transitioned from a direct-sold fund family to one that was advisor-distributed. STEP 1: Expanded Share Offerings First step, Alpine started offering a new share class, an A share class. This was started in December, 2011. It now offer A shares on 13 Alpine Funds. Meanwhile, the firm's I-shares are now called Institutional Class with an investment minimum of $1 million and available on many fee based platforms. STEP 2: Bolstered Staff When Coyne joined the firm two years ago as head of marketing, he brought in a head of marketing communications and a director of creative and interactive services. He also hired four new external wholesalers and one internal dedicated to working with advisors across the country.
Further, he hired three new marketing executives, in part to help with the launch of a new website last July. The firm also hired three additional members to the real estate team and one senior credit analyst for the fixed income team.
They are now in the process of hiring a national accounts manager. STEP 3: Rationalize Product Line and Introduce New Funds Alpine launched a new fund at the end of May, but is not yet actively marketing it, the Alpine High Yield Managed Duration Municipal Fund. "We have been bringing actively managed funds to market that are compliments to broader asset allocation strategies," he said. "This is not like your traditional muni fund. It is a high yield muni with a focus on income with a duration range of 3 to 7 years." Coyne had this to say about the product rationalization as well as product development.
STEP 4: Embraced the Idea of "Capability" Coyne and his colleagues have devoted a lot of time to re-categorizing their funds according to a concept they've dubbed: "Capability Plus" or "Capability +." The full motto for the initiative is "Aligning Capability with Need"
Alpine divides its funds up into four main capability groups. 1. Income 2. Income with Growth 3. Real Estate 4. Thematic Coyne describes the utility of these groups in this way:
Planning for the Rest of the Year Coyne said that "we are looking at our strategic plan as we speak, making sure we know which direction we are going."
All of these things are under review, Coyne said. "We're happy where we are, but we don't feel that we have peaked in any way. We are not going to rest on our laurels," he said. Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=45640 Copyright 2013, InvestmentWires, Inc. All Rights Reserved |