Verdad Advisers
Verdad Advisers Builds Trust with High-Cadence Investor Communications
An N2 Client Success Story
Meet Verdad
Through rigorous market research and testing, Verdad strives to offer their investors the highest returns possible. Combining these data-driven approaches with intellectual rigor and good old-fashioned common sense, Dan Rasmussen had made the biggest financial markets discovery of his life—he was convinced Verdad could create portfolios of leveraged small-cap value stocks and generate the same or better returns at a fraction of the cost.
But dispelling a widespread myth on Wall Street can be a very difficult product to sell to investors. The young hedge fund founder needed to find a new way to market his investment thesis to investors, so he came to N2 for help.
The Challenge
In the early days, Verdad was a new firm led by a relatively young Rasmussen, promoting a contrarian and extremely technical investment thesis. Verdad needed to build trust with an audience of potential investors who weren’t experts in quantitative investment and statistical analysis. So Rasmussen steered into his skill set—telling complex, little-known stories through data, charts, history, and good writing. Specifically, he developed a weekly research publication that provides compelling analysis relevant to investors, delivered in a voice that is bold but not combative, data-rich but still accessible to a general audience. Building that trust also included creating pitch decks that read like great magazine articles, and great magazine articles for Institutional Investor that pack the statistical punch of an investment thesis.
How N2 Helps
N2 has provided editorial support for Verdad from day one, consulting on core messaging and editing all public content for consistent voice and style. With a dedicated editorial team, N2 serves as a stand-in for the average generalist investor, clarifying complex ideas so that the entire audience can understand the full value of Verdad’s insights. We move quickly to return polished versions of each weekly research piece, helping Verdad build trust with its audience at a far higher cadence than the required quarterly reporting that is the standard in the financial industry.
The Results
Since starting the weekly research project, Verdad has seen a 100x increase in weekly subscribers, and its assets under management have grown to ~$1 billion from a few million in the early years.
“In terms of headcount, Verdad is a small team relative to many asset managers,” says Rasmussen. “With N2, I don’t need to build out a big, expensive IR infrastructure. I need some cool charts designed for a report? Some media prep for a podcast appearance? A brilliant editor for the investing book I’m writing? I just call N2.”
Disclaimer:
N2 Comms is not a client of Verdad and is not being compensated for sharing their opinion and experience with our firm. Any compensation creates a conflict of interest and N2’s comments may not be representative of any other person’s experience with the firm, there is no guarantee of future performance or success and has not been paid for.
This does not constitute an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to sell or an offer to buy any securities, investment products or investment advisory services. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investments involve risk including loss of principal. The information in this presentation is not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, accounting, legal, or tax advice or investment recommendations. Each recipient should consult its own tax, legal, accounting, financial, or other advisors about the issues discussed herein.