French institutional investors: asset managers’ communications are too generic

Institutional investors in France would prefer personalised, transparent updates that focus on their specific needs and objectives, research by Aureum found 

Key points: 

• French institutional investors feel communications from asset managers are too generic. 

• Asset managers are clearly the preferred information source for French institutional investors when seeking information on investment strategies, followed by colleagues/peers and events. 

• Our research found that print media are still read by the vast majority of French institutional investors, with 76% receiving publications at the office. 

French institutional investors feel communications from asset managers are too generic, research by Aureum (Fundamental Group's research and consultancy business) has found. Instead, they would prefer personalised, transparent updates that focus on their specific needs and objectives. 

They value concise, regular insights that emphasise future potential rather than past results, with honest details on costs and allocation choices. Institutional investors in France also prefer less advertising of products and more focus on investment ideas. 

From July to October 2024, we surveyed 37 institutional investors in France about their investment views, satisfaction with asset managers and media consumption. The France report is part of our institutional investors research, which also includes reports on Germany, the US, the UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands. 

Asset managers are clearly the preferred information source for French institutional investors when seeking information on investment strategies, followed by colleagues/peers and events. Consultants play only a marginal role, with less than 20% using them, while 54% rely on financial media. 

With their strong reliance on information from asset managers, respondents indicated they would like to receive more communication support on investment strategies, market trends and asset allocation. 

Media consumption  

Our research found that print media are still read by the vast majority of French institutional investors, with 76% receiving publications at the office. Only 21% of respondents do not read any print publication. 

Podcasts are not as popular with almost half of respondents not listening to them for business purposes and only 42% listening to them on a weekly basis. On the other hand, newsletter readership is high, with 64% of respondents reading them daily or multiple times a day. 

LinkedIn is by far the most used social media platform, followed by WhatsApp and YouTube. Most French institutional investors use social media mainly for networking, reading/watching industry news, and to read/watch asset manager content.