Villere & Co. Advisor Outreach Program Wins MFEA STAR Award

Villere & Co. won the 2013 Star Award for Best Advisor Communications Introduction Kit (small funds category) in the annual Mutual Fund Education Alliance (MFEA) STAR Awards. The program was designed by SunStar Strategic to introduce Villere’s newest mutual fund in May. The STAR Awards honor excellence in diverse areas of mutual fund communications and marketing.


“We are incredibly proud of Villere’s fund launch success. Our targeted approach to communicating the launch to advisors demonstrates our commitment to multifaceted, strategic communications,” said Dan Sondhelm, SVP & Partner at SunStar Strategic.

SunStar Strategic designed a comprehensive program, which included analysis of Villere’s existing funds’ advisors resulting in custom outreach, a unique web landing page for the new fund, a position paper and video interview with the portfolio manager and multiple collateral pieces comprising a rigorous e-mail marketing and direct mail campaign.

“We reached out to 8,200 advisors through an e-mail marketing campaign. In addition, 225 top advisors in Villere’s existing fund received advisor packets and the fund managers placed calls at several of these firms to gain traction,” Sondhelm added.

 
The collaborative efforts of both Villere and SunStar Strategic resulted in attention from the media across multiple channels, increased website traffic and helped direct assets into the fund, with eight advisors placing investors in the fund in excess of $2 million one month after launch.

In addition, two other SunStar Strategic clients won STAR Awards this year. Hennessy Funds is the 2013 recipient of The Community Investment Award, earned for distinguishing itself through philanthropic endeavors. RidgeWorth Investments won awards for its website, communications and ad campaigns in the medium asset level category.

About SunStar Strategic

SunStar Strategic is a public relations and marketing firm with a focus on financial services. With more than 20 years of experience, the firm’s services are designed to integrate with clients’ distribution and marketing strategies to attract and retain customers and investors and build brands through structured news generation programs and smart marketing. SunStar knows the industry and the reporters who cover it, helping clients get the attention and recognition they deserve.

Visit www.sunstarstrategic.com for more information.

The Mutual Fund Education Alliance (MFEA) is dedicated to informing and educating the investing public about how to achieve important lifetime goals using mutual funds. Since 1971, the MFEA has served the investment management industry by bringing senior leaders together to explore the latest trends, best practices and key issues, strengthening the ways the industry serves investors and advisors.

The MFEA STAR Awards program was designed to honor the fund industry for its extraordinary efforts to communicate with and market to investors in ways that support shareholders and their investment goals. Over the years, it has distinguished itself as the premier fund industry competition that encourages excellence and fosters improvement and innovation.