Private markets have long been cemented in the portfolios of institutional investors, but firms offering these assets are stepping up their marketing efforts to attract new capital while staying true to the core strategies that have proven effective in the past.
In an interview with Financial Promoter, Jenny Blinch, global head of communications at Partners Group, notes that private markets have become mainstream, seeking to attract private wealth and retail investors.
In response, larger firms, especially in the US, have ramped up marketing. In some cases, they are hiring marketing chiefs from tech and other industries to sharpen their approach, she says.
She adds that this is a significant shift because private market firms historically operated without a structured marketing function. Instead, they relied on sales and communications, but this is beginning to change, she says.
“The mindset has shifted,” she says. “There’s competition with traditional asset managers, and private markets firms are realising they need to develop public brands and market themselves differently.”
For Partners Group, this shift in mindset has led to new approaches. While the firm was previously ahead in some areas, it had historically been cautious about aggressive marketing. This is an attitude that has now evolved, according to Blinch.
Responding to industry change
Though, it’s not only changes in private markets driving Partners Group’s marketing evolution as the firm’s own growth has also enabled a shift in approach, Blinch says.
“When I joined Partners Group in 2012, the firm had $32 billion in assets under management and 600 employees. Now, that’s grown to $152 billion and nearly 2,000 employees,” she notes.
She explains that growth has shaped the communications mandate, giving Blinch the opportunity to build the function almost from scratch. This included hiring a team, expanding international coverage, launching a content marketing programme, and introducing social media. These are efforts that resulted in two rebrands under her leadership.
She adds the shift focuses on managing fewer generalists and more specialists, adding that the challenge is embedding new functions into the company’s culture as they develop. “Even though we are a large firm, we’re still lean,” she says.
As the firm’s marketing strategies have evolved, so has Blinch’s role. “Since I had a blank page and could build things, I worked across many functions,” she says. “Over time, as needs changed, content marketing moved away from communications, and we hired a dedicated marketing team.”
Blinch is no stranger to evolving roles, having started her career as a journalist covering private equity before working for an ESG consultancy firm. She was later approached by Partners Group for a role in product management, an opportunity that allowed her to “go behind the curtain and see how this world really works.” However, it wasn’t long before the communications team at the firm’s Swiss headquarters invited her to support their efforts in Asia.
Keeping tradition alive
While adapting marketing strategies to reflect a firm’s growth and industry trends is crucial, Blinch emphasises the importance of preserving the traditional approaches that have consistently driven success.
For example, private market firms have long been known to often be entrepreneurial and have a sink-or-swim culture, according to Blinch.
Therefore, to be successful in this culture, it is important to rely on time-tested approaches, such as actively seeking opportunities, proving a firm’s value and identifying the people with stories to tell, she says.
She adds that it is also important to continue to demonstrate the value of marketing in private markets because many of the firms in this sector grew rapidly, almost without needing communications, so the function has to prove its worth.
The best way to achieve this is to initially partner with those who actively seek communications support, such as individuals wanting to build their business or profile, and show results, she notes. That success then encourages others to take notice and ask for similar help.
Maintaining trust is also critical, she adds. “The bar is high, especially for a listed company like Partners Group, because our reporting and comms must be flawless,” she says.
By balancing new strategies with proven approaches, firms can stay ahead of competitors while remaining true to what made them successful in the first place.