30 Months for a $30 Million Investment
The Lifecycle of an Institutional Hedge Fund Allocation
30 months - A Marathon Sales Cycle
In our industry, the sales cycle is a marathon, not a sprint. From the initial introduction to the final commitment, it took over 30 months or 2.5 years to initiate and close this particular investment. Navigating such a long-duration sales process requires that one stay vigilant and track interactions while maintaining distance and discretion. Our job was to help our manager establish credibility, earn trust, and reaffirm that the time and effort to facilitate diligence was worthwhile
20+ Emails: Persistent, Polite, Professional Follow-Up
The conversation didn’t move forward on its own. Thoughtful, well-timed email communication helped maintain momentum and kept the opportunity actionable for both the investor and the manager. Whether it was a performance update, market color, or an AUM update - each communication offered an insight, anticipated a question and offered an obvious next action step. Polite persistence with some insight was critical
5 Calls: Digging Deeper
While emails kept the dialogue alive, the Zooms and phone calls between manager and investor forged the relationship. As external salespeople, we need to know when to engage and when to take a step back. Once we were aware that the strategy was a fit at a high level in terms of meeting the asset allocation requirements and could perform its role in the portfolio we let the manager and the investor continue the conversation without our involvement.
2 Face-to-Face Meetings
As our manager was in Europe and our investor was in the United States, a simple flight to New York was not a possibility. We needed to optimize scheduling to include all relevant team members and provide sufficient time to cover the necessary agenda items. In some instances we needed to advocate on behalf of the manager and in some cases advocate on behalf of the investor to make sure that the right people were in the room.
Our Value - See the Process Through to the End
The $30 million allocation was the result of intentional efforts and thoughtful and persistent follow-up. We understood the investor’s mandate. We identified a strategy that fit that mandate and stayed engaged in the process until we had a definitive response - positive or negative. This is the value of external representation.