Nine questions for a successful new product

Firms planning to launch a new mutual fund in 2015 will want to read SEI’s brief, The U.S. Investment Product Marketplace: Nine critical considerations for forward thinking money managers. The paper leads readers through nine questions they should consider to maximize a new product’s success upon entering the marketplace.

The U.S. mutual fund industry had assets totaling $15 trillion at year-end 2014, sizable enough that capturing even a small slice could make for a very successful fund launch.  Yet, to give their products the best chance of success, managers need to plan their product development and launch, including product packaging, carefully. The best time to consider retail packaging for a product is after investment strategy and ideal target market have been determined. Once these elements are known, managers need to make sure that the product will still fit into the requirements of product packaging and structure.

Many large firms have a wealth of resources to help them navigate this process, but boutique firms may have neither the experience nor the financial standing to invest in research to launch their products in the most optimally successful way. SEI’s paper will act as a guide to firms, offering practical insight and tips as well as links to many resources on launch strategy. Following the thought and decision process laid out in this paper allows managers from all types of firms—U.S., European, small, medium, or large—to think through the process of leveraging their product and making sure they have the resources to uphold their relationships throughout the product launch.

To read the paper in its entirety, please click here.