63: Rewind | From Startup to $5B+ to Startup Again, Award-Winning Fund Mgr Simon Evan-Cook on Storytelling in Investments | Why He’ll Take Qualitative Over Quantitative Due Diligence
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Can you have different stories for different strategies?
What about brand stories for each niche?
UK’s award-winning fund manager Simon Evan-Cook was a senior member of the Premier Miton Multi Asset team, which managed over $5B. He’s now establishing the Downing Fox Fund Range at Downing LLP in London.
In this episode, Simon and Stacy discuss:
His backstory: from taking a load of jobs he disliked to discovering a love for writing, which brought him to the investment industry
Why the world would need another fund, let alone a fund of funds
The power of niche
Why you must be disagreeable to excel
What role qualitative plays in his research process
His flexibly dogmatic approach to assessing a fund
Proof that authenticity works in asset management
Advice for boutiques on their journey
More About Simon Evan-Cook
Simon also writes on investment (and beyond), including a monthly column for Citywire Magazine and his investment blog on Medium.com. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family and dog, devouring movies and books, and superficially damaging European golf courses.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Book: Any Human Heart by William Boyd
Book: Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
Article: Investors: The one thing separating excellent from competent
Article: Should you invest with Han Solo or C-3PO?
Article: Should you invest with Indiana Jones?
Article: Should you invest with Butch Cassidy & The Sundance KidThis episode of Story Snacks dives into the nuances of crafting job stories that fit distinct strategies and market segments.
Stacey breaks down why one size doesn’t fit all, and how you can tailor your narrative for maximum impact.
This is Story Snacks! A bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in less than 20 minutes per week!
TRANSCRIPT
Below is an AI-generated transcript and therefore it may contain errors.
[00:00:00] Stacy Havener: Craving more knowledge, but don't always have time to sit down for a five course meal? Take a quick snack break with StorySnacks. Bite sized content to feed your funnel. Each short episode features Stacey digging into one question. This series has her talking stories, sales, and so much more. Oh yeah, it's time for story snacks.
[00:00:25] Can I have a different job story for every strategy? And can I have a different brand story for every niche of our market? Okay, all right, so we're talking about can I have different stories. And one topic is can I have different job stories, and one is can I have different brand stories. Okay, great. I have two different answers, so we'll just stay on the different vibe here.
[00:00:49] Let's start with job story. Let's start with what is a job story. So the job story. is the backstory of the product or strategy, which [00:01:00] means you set up this strategy to solve a problem or harness an opportunity, two sides of the same coin. And so what was that? Again, by definition, each one of those products or strategies is going to have a different job story.
[00:01:17] If you're on the investment team, the hack I have for you is to think of role in the portfolio a little bit. Like what's the role in the portfolio? What is this designed to harness? What is it designed to solve? What risk is it mitigating? Kind of get into the portfolio a little bit to help unlock some of this.
[00:01:37] A couple examples of powerful job stories might be that you created the product or strategy for yourself. Like you wanted this, you couldn't find it elsewhere, so you designed it for yourself. That's great. That resonates with clients. Again, what really matters with the job story is not you, it's the client.
[00:01:55] the client. You are essentially your own client in that [00:02:00] scenario. Another one would be an actual client comes to you and says, Hey, I have this problem or I see this opportunity and I need a guide and I need a way to access this or solve this. And we think you're the perfect guide for this. Would you be willing to run this strategy?
[00:02:17] That's a great one. Because when you tell that job story to other people, other investors, they're like, Oh, so a client actually needed this. Okay. Wow. So then you kind of get almost an impact story from it too. An example of a job story that is not powerful would be one that is from the standpoint of you, the product manufacturer, using air quotes here, because nobody likes the idea of some investment bigwigs and some exec committee people sitting around trying to come up with a hot product that's going to get a whole bunch of assets.
[00:02:53] You saw this really profoundly with impact investing. You had some firms who [00:03:00] genuinely had impact strategies for the right reasons, a job story that was powerful, and you saw a lot of other firms just sort of jump on that trend, hot dot. take a strategy, throw some ESG screens on it and call it green.
[00:03:14] That was the whole greenwashing phenomenon. That is hollow, right? That story is not authentic at all in which taps into that A4 assets philosophy we talk about, which is you have to be an authority in the space. Yes, but it has to be authentic. So a job story that is about you. I thought we should launch this because everybody else's.
[00:03:37] vibe is not going to work. So that's job story. By definition should be different. Not the case for brand story. However, job story is about a product. Brand story is about you as a company. and as a people. You don't really want to have different brand stories floating around. [00:04:00] Why would you do that? Let's kind of get to the root of it.
[00:04:03] You might want to do that because, again, it's a little bit like niches. You think, okay, well, I'm meeting with Mary from this firm and this is what Mary cares about, so I'm going to show up. and give Mary what she wants to hear. And then I go and meet Joe from this firm over here, and Joe maybe has some, I think he wants something different, so I show up differently to Joe.
[00:04:26] And this goes back to the concept of attract and repel. So when you try to mean something to everybody, you do end up not meaning anything to anybody at all. So alternative to this is to just have one consistent brand story that is very authentic and aligned, and you tell it And it's kind of like what would happen with a niche.
[00:04:51] Somebody may hear it and say, well, that's not for me. In which case, that's fine. You had a nice cup of coffee and you move on. But somebody may hear it and say, well, I'm not [00:05:00] that exact target market, but I actually have that same problem. Or they may say, well, I am that target market, and I don't have that exact problem, but I have a problem that's very similar to it.
[00:05:10] And I think you still could potentially be the guide to solve it. So I think the important part here to remember about brand story is there should be one and it should be very aligned and very authentic and also when you tell it like it's not a statement that has no additional conversation around it.
[00:05:31] You don't just say your brand story and the person goes, well, that's not for me and walks out. It's a conversation and there's an evolution to it. So you have to just sort of trust that when you tell your brand story and you say, this is who we are, and this is who we serve, and this is how we help that there's going to be additional dialogue around that.
[00:05:54] Are you an investment boutique looking to grow your business and need a little help? If you feel like you're fighting for the [00:06:00] spotlight and well, still stuck in the shadows of the bigs, join us in the Boutique Investment Collective, Havener's new membership community, dedicated to the specialist in the investment industry.
[00:06:10] In the collective, we'll guide you through the billion dollar blueprint we've used to help boutiques add over 30 billion in AUM. You'll refine your story, focus on your ideal target market and practice your pitch. You'll rethink your marketing materials, rewrite your emails, and refresh your differentiators.
[00:06:27] We'll even help you step up your LinkedIn game and give your profile a makeover. You want to grow your biz, we've got your back. Learn more about The Collective, the curriculum, and the amazing coaches who will help you on your journey. Visit havenercapital. com slash collective. High five! Hope to see you in a coaching session soon.
[00:06:54] This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment [00:07:00] decisions. The information is not an offer, solicitation, or recommendation of any of the funds, services, or products or to adopt any investment strategy. Investment values may fluctuate and past performance is not a guide to future performance.
[00:07:14] All opinions expressed by guests on the show are solely their own opinion and do not necessarily reflect those at their firm. Manager's appearance on the show does not constitute an endorsement by Stacey Havener or Havener Capital Partners.
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