GrowTH STRATEGY CONSULTING FOR ASSET MANAGERS

Chestnut guides asset managers through the rapidly-changing industry landscape. Our solutions help our clients get where they want to go.

OUR Services

Product Strategy

We provide thoughtful reviews of product lines, rationalization, development, and prioritization

Distribution Strategy

We recommend team and organization structure, market analysis, planning by region or segment, and custom sales roadmaps

M&A Strategy

We help identify best-fit acquisition targets, analyze disposition candidates, and offer post-acquisition integration planning

Brand Strategy

We define your firm’s value proposition, identify target investors and their needs, and create valuable messaging and marketing plans

Implementation Support

We know a thoughtful strategic plan is only the first step. We partner with you to ensure successful implementation of your new strategy. Our ongoing strategic advisory includes sales coaching, firm and product messaging, thought leadership, and long-term marketing plans

OUR FIRM

Chestnut is a boutique growth strategy consultant dedicated to asset managers and OCIOs. We are a women-owned, practitioner-led firm and our advisors are a team of deeply experienced industry professionals.

The Golden Circle of Asset Management

Chestnut aims to put our clients in what we call the “Golden Circle” of asset management, by answering three critical questions:

What do your investors want? Understanding your target investors’ key needs, ensuring your products address those needs and your messaging articulates your ability to meet those needs creates the foundation for a strong, long-lasting relationship with your clients. Investors’ needs are constantly evolving. Custom market research is a hugely valuable tool to ensure your growth strategy is on target.

How can your firm deliver? This is where strategy - Product, Brand, M&A, Marketing - and the ongoing successful implementation of those strategies - come in.

Why you? Articulating how a relationship with your firm will benefit your clients, as well as the distinct role each of your products will play in investors’ portfolios will get your firm into the bullseye of the Golden Circle. A strong ‘why you’ that is embedded across a manager’s growth strategies - Product, Distribution, Brand and M&A - will develop the trust that is necessary to raise, retain, and - over time - continue to raise and retain more capital from your target investors.
Outer Ring – What

Most manager messaging focuses on the ‘What’ story: what asset classes you manage, what your historic investment results have been, etc. There are several problems with this approach.

First, the widespread use of manager databases has made detailed descriptions largely unnecessary, and widely ignored.

Second, even the best ‘What’ story alone will not motivate an investor to hire an asset manager.

Finally, it is extremely difficult to craft a ‘What’ story that is focused on a manager’s target investors. A ‘What’ story by itself largely treats all investors as the same - the antithesis of the targeted approach to the highly fragmented investor marketplace that Chestnut recommends.
Middle Ring – How

No manager will be hired without a deep explanation of their ‘How.’ Investors today want to understand much more than just the inner workings of a manager’s investment process, however.

Winning asset managers clearly explain how their target investors will benefit from having a relationship with that manager. Most investors - both institutional and retail - are seeking to reduce the number of manager relationships they have. Investors expect much more than just a risk/return stream on their capital from their manager relationships today.

Winning asset managers also ensure they can deliver on their ‘How.’ Again, an auditable, repeatable investment process is just the start of a winning ‘How.’

Chestnut helps asset managers identify, articulate and implement a unique ‘how’ that is authentic to their firm and culture and will resonate with their client inventors.
Golden Circle – Why

The key to attracting and retaining investor capital is to clearly address the ‘Why’ - i.e. why that investor will benefit from building a relationship with that manager.

Chestnut’s research among inventors and investment consultants has shown time and time again that historic investment performance is NOT the primary reason driving the asset manager or OCIO hiring decision. There are a wide range of ‘whys’ that work for different investors, such as risk management advice or technology that can be used for portfolio analysis beyond the managers’ products, access to and a relationship with a firm that delivers outstanding and relevant investment insights, working with a firm that is a champion for their asset class, access to direct investing opportunities going forward, governance advisory (a leading ‘Why’ for investors hiring OCIOs), and many more.

Winning asset managers each have their own unique set of ‘Whys’ that are authentic to the firm’s product mix, culture and philosophy, and that resonate with the firm’s target investors. In addition, these winning asset managers ensure they can actually deliver on these ‘Whys’.

Chestnut helps our clients identify their winning ‘Whys’ and then implement this ‘why’ across the firm’s growth strategies.

Our Approach

Outer Ring – What

Middle Ring – How

Golden Circle – Why

OUR INSIGHTS

Webinar

Global OCIO AUM topped $2.4 trillion this year. In this webinar, we reveal our forecast for 2026. Sharing insights from our research, our panelists from Mercer and Alpha Capital discussed the catalysts driving OCIO growth.

Article

M&A among investment firms is a strategy intended to drive profitable growth. In this article, we examine the trends motivating these deals and the many hurdles to successful deal execution. Please fill out the form below to view our research. Shortly after...

Webinar

We discuss our Future of Investments research on investment firm M&A with leaders from Mercer (Keith Mote) and TIAA (Javier Enrile). Industry changes driving increased M&A activity, the types of asset manager deals that are most (and least) likely to succeed,...

See All Our Insights

OUR INSIGHTS

Webinar

Global OCIO AUM topped $2.4 trillion this year. In this webinar, we reveal our forecast for 2026. Sharing insights from our research, our panelists from Mercer and Alpha Capital discussed the catalysts driving OCIO growth.

Article

M&A among investment firms is a strategy intended to drive profitable growth. In this article, we examine the trends motivating these deals and the many hurdles to successful deal execution. Please fill out the form below to view our research. Shortly after...

Webinar

We discuss our Future of Investments research on investment firm M&A with leaders from Mercer (Keith Mote) and TIAA (Javier Enrile). Industry changes driving increased M&A activity, the types of asset manager deals that are most (and least) likely to succeed,...

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GrowTH STRATEGY CONSULTING FOR ASSET MANAGERS

Chestnut guides asset managers through the rapidly-changing industry landscape. Our solutions help our clients get where they want to go.

OUR Services

Product Strategy

Distribution Strategy

M&A Strategy

Brand Strategy

Implementation Support

OUR FIRM

The Golden Circle of Asset Management

Outer Ring – What

Middle Ring – How

Golden Circle – Why

Our Approach

OUR INSIGHTS

Webinar

Article

Webinar

OUR INSIGHTS

Webinar

Article

Webinar

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Future of Investments information available