They were who we thought they were

by Seuk Kim

If you’re a sports fan, particularly the NFL, then you might recognize the line "They were who we thought they were" from Dennis Green who was coaching the Arizona Cardinals at the time. He said this famous line at a press conference after being defeated by the Chicago Bears in a disappointing fashion.  If you are not familiar, click the video for the rated-PG rant.

I am often reminded of the line when speaking with mutual fund managers and marketers when talking about their funds that have had some recent bumps and bruises in their performance.

 

Often times, it’s because a conservative manager can’t keep up when everything is going up or an aggressive manager underperforms even more than the market.

They often attribute sizable outflows to their poor relative performance and ask me for tips on how to deal with the situation. My answer is often a question, “Do your investors know that you are being who they thought you were?"

How are you letting your existing and potential investors know that your fund is doing exactly what it’s supposed to be doing? Share your best practices in the comments section below.