Pitching to investors can be an unnerving process even for sales professionals. No one wants to be in the position of needing someone to buy in, literally, to what they are selling, in order to stay alive in business. Yet for most fund managers, this is exactly what is required of the pitching effort: no convincing, no capital, and soon, no fund. Regardless of investment specifics, potential pitch mishaps exist which cause investors to lose interest and focus. Knowing the issues that trigger investor ennui or ultimately turn off an individual and taking a proactive approach to combating them can help managers position their pitch more favorably.

Pitching to investors can be an unnerving process even for sales professionals. No one wants to be in the position of needing someone to buy in, literally, to what they are selling, in order to stay alive in business. Yet for most fund managers, this is exactly what is required of the pitching effort: no convincing, no capital, and soon, no fund. Regardless of investment specifics, potential pitch mishaps exist which cause investors to lose interest and focus. Knowing the issues that trigger investor ennui or ultimately turn off an individual and taking a proactive approach to combating them can help managers position their pitch more favorably.

The industry's financial regulatory authority, FINRA, established an Investor Complaint Center to capture and address common complaints from investors regarding their brokers and/or the firms that employ them. In providing this information on their website, FINRA educates investors on the type of problems frequently reported, how to avoid these problems and what to do about them if encountered. The advice FINRA provides to investors about their advisors can also apply to fund managers for their pitch efforts.

Some of the questions the FINRA site suggests that investors might consider exploring include: How is this in line with my investment objectives? What is......................

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This article was published in Opalesque's New Managers a top-down monthly analysis, news and research publication on the global emerging manager space.