Frequently Asked Questions about our alternative investment contact database
Who are your clients?
We currently service the following types of alternative investment funds:
- Hedge Funds
- Funds of Hedge Funds
- Private Equity Funds
- Long Only Funds
- Real Estate Funds
- Funds of Private Equity Funds
- Funds of Real Estate Funds
Our clients are primarily emerging managers as well funds with under $100 million in assets under management looking to efficiently, and cost effectively source capital and track investor trends.
What types of investors are accessible through WFD?
We currently have 14 categories of investors including family offices, wealth advisors, funds of funds , consultants, endowments, foundations, government pension, union pensions, corporate pensions, healthcare pensions, private banks, tax exempt organizations, and insurance firms. We have approximately 5,000 private and institutional alternative investor firm(s). All of the investors in the database are accredited and have an active interest in alternatives. If we speak with an investor who is not interested in alternatives, they are not in the database! We find that most emerging managers are interested in the family office, fund of fund, and wealth advisor categories, which is known as our “Emerging Manager Package”. In this package, WFD offers over 6,800 contacts.
I have all the contacts I need. How could you possibly help me?
Even if you have all the contacts you need, it is a very difficult task (ask for our whitepaper, “Cost of Keeping Up With Investors”) to know what the current situation is in regards to manager type and strategy that investors are now seeking to invest in. By purchasing a WFD subscription, you will have instant access to thousands of constantly updated, relevant investor mandates. We understand that you have a long list of contacts. However, do you know what all of them are currently interested in with regard to asset class and investment strategy going forward? Is your contact information even accurate any longer?
Why is the service only available in a one year subscription?
The WFD product is not your typical “one snapshot in time” database that is usually offered in the market place. These types of offerings are usually 6-12 months out of date because of the database publication release cycles. WFD is a “live database” which adds new alternative investor profiles daily.This means that week to week and month to month you are able to log in and see new investors to target. WFD’s competitive advantage is our alternative investor profiles are constantly updated on a 90 day rolling basis by our best in the industry analyst group. Investor preferences change throughout the year as will their profiles to match their current mandates. In addition to updating existing contacts and mandates, WFD adds new investors firms and their mandates on a weekly basis.
Furthermore, today’s allocation cycle is anywhere between 12 to 18 months and selling your fund is a numbers game. This means that you have to go after as many qualified prospects as possible. Having access to a database for less than a full year will severely limit your ability to stay abreast of the marketplace.
All I want are the investors looking for my fund: why can’t I purchase only a custom generated list of these investors?
The answer to this question follows closely behind the reason for having a full year subscription. The value of this product is in the accuracy of the alternative investors’ contact and mandate data. Keep in mind, that clients can download their own excel sheets from our live database at any time throughout their subscription.
To give an idea of how much information is lost after just one week, understand that on a weekly basis, WFD is updating between 100 to 200 investor records. Of these records, between 20 and 40 are brand new to the system every week.
Thus, after only one month with a custom generated list, you could be potentially missing updated information on 400+ investors, along with another 80+ new investors that are added to the database in this time.
Where does this information come from?
WhiteHall Financial Data’s information is licensed exclusively from Brighton House Associates. WFD is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brighton House Associates. BHA is an alternative investment research firm which speaks to investors around the globe about their current interests in the alternative investment arena.
Isn’t it more productive and affordable to get in front of investors by attending conferences?
While some may think that it is more productive to be face-to-face with random investors, this is rarely the case. The issue is that in the world of fund raising you are dealing with investors being inundated with managers who are not a fit for their investment strategy. This translates to a lot of “noise” for the investor who receives up to a hundred calls and emails per day from fund managers who are either the wrong strategy or wrong asset class altogether.
The key to raising assets is targeting investors who are interested in your fund type and strategy. It is a fallacy generated by conference providers that any fund manager can show up to a conference and find eager investors. On the contrary, investors have done their research and have their own clients to answer to know what they are looking for. If you are not a fit for what they seek, you will not convince them otherwise.
Ultimately, WFD is less expensive than the costs associates with attending a conference. You will have to stay in a hotel, pay conference registration fees, and pay for travel and food expenses... all for some contact info... hardly worth the effort. It is impossible to think that a marketing campaign based on attending multiple conferences will be cost effective for anyone other than the conference providers.
If you are serious about raising capital for your fund, you must understand that this is a full time commitment. There is no other alternative investor service that allows you to specifically target investors interested in your fund type and strategy, saving you time and money.
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