Case Blog

This past week we heard from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that the U.S. recovery would continue to be slow and uneven and that the unemployment rate would remain stubbornly high into 2012. “Of course, even as the Federal Reserve continues prudent planning for the ultimate withdrawal of extraordinary monetary policy accommodation, we also recognize that the economic outlook remains unusually uncertain,” Bernanke stated. (NY Times 7/21/10)  In his second day of testimony before Congress, Bernanke clarified his statements from the day before and assured them that he would take action if necessary and the Fed could extend very low rates of interest out into the future to insure that we do not fall back into recession and a perilous deflationary spiral.  The term “unusually uncertain” had clearly roiled the markets during his first day of testimony.

The Federal Reserve, together with the Obama administration and both houses of Congress, needs to understand the necessity of restoring both business and investor confidence to get the economy growing at an acceptable pace once again. Raising taxes during this low point in the recovery, combined with consistent criticism of business, particularly our financial institutions, is not going to give anyone the reassurance needed to start adding jobs. A focus on tax incentives to create new jobs would go a long way to restoring both business and shareholder confidence and to get the economy growing at more than 3%-4% again.

Both parties need to “Cool the Populist Rhetoric.” I called for this in January and it remains true now. Restoring our economic engine remains a bipartisan task and voters, particularly those that are unemployed or underemployed, will remember those who focused on job creation and those who did not when they go to their polling places this November.

On a much more positive note, Mary Claire and I spent several vacation days this past week in Healdsburg, California (Sonoma County) with our good friends Elise and George Riggs. We did not have to drive too far from home (less than 2 hours) to be reminded of simpler times and the true beauty of the Golden State.

We spent our first afternoon over a leisurely lunch at Copain with Wells Guthrie, the proprietor. (Copain’s tasting room sits on Eastside Road in Healdsburg, with gorgeous views.) Guthrie’s focus on quality and the need to pair wines and food is consistently on target.  Back in the winter of ’09, Eric Asimov, who writes The Pour, wrote in the New York Times (3/11/09): “As the rain slanted down onto the vineyard around Copain Wine Cellars, just outside this town in northern Sonoma County, Wells Guthrie, the proprietor, poured a glass of one of his 2006 pinot noirs. The wine was fresh and light with aromas of flowers and red fruit. Even in the gray dimness of his tasting room I could see my fingers on the other side of the glass through the pale ruby wine. It was vibrant and refreshing, nothing like the dark, plush, opulent wines that have made California pinot noir so popular. Mr. Guthrie used to make wines more along those heavier lines, but not anymore. After the vinous equivalent of a conversion experience, with his 2006 vintage he renounced the fruit-bomb style in favor of wines that emphasize freshness and delicacy.”

The next night we went for dinner to Cyrus, in downtown Healdsburg, and we paired a 2007 Copain Wentzel Pinot Noir with an extraordinary dining experience.  Cyrus lives up to its two-star Michelin billing.

Finally, we took the time to make the trip up Spring Mountain to Pride Mountain Vineyards, in St. Helena, California. This spectacular vineyard straddles the border between Napa and Sonoma counties. This mountain winery makes outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon. We also enjoyed a delightful picnic lunch, paired with their ’09 Viognier.

On Sunday evening we welcome back Mad Men and the enigmatic Don Draper!

In one of my earliest postings in September of ‘07, Global Brands, I wrote: “As we transition to a digital world, managing our brands becomes ever more demanding. Microsoft, which has done wonders with the Windows and Office brands, stumbled as they tried to rebrand Hotmail, IM and Search under the Windows Live brand. I am certain that with their unlimited resources they employed several of the best branding agencies in the business, but they still struggled through this transition. Those of us who come to this with much less in the way of outside assistance must clearly understand that we need brands that can travel globally…All of us in the B2B or B2C space tasked with transitioning to the digital world are looking for the Holy Grail, an umbrella brand that inspires confidence and trust and at the same time can support many vertical channels. Strategy sessions and market tests play an important role in this process. Marketing dollars invested in branding will yield significant returns, although without strong digital brands there is not much chance of survival for print brands, even those with storied histories.”

In the fall of ‘07, my partners at Austin Ventures and I were still in the search mode to find a platform that we could acquire and grow.  It was almost a year later when we zeroed in on the institutional financial sector, with a focus on asset management. In fairly short order, we acquired Asset International, The Trade, and Strategic Insight.

We decided that we would operate under the Asset International name, as it provided a very clear brand and would allow us to add significant brands under the Asset International umbrella. Today we have established a new London office for Strategic Insight to support the Simfund Global database and analytics platform. In the next several months we will open a comparable office in Hong Kong for our expanding client base to support these well-known business intelligence products and services. This client base historically has been composed of mutual fund companies, but recently we have seen it expand in the U.S. to include other business sectors, including private equity firms that have a strong interest in the financial sector.

In addition, this past spring we launched Plan Sponsor Europe out of London. With this very strong retirement-focused brand and its print, online, research reports, and conference components, Plan Sponsor Europe is offering longtime clients like State Street (STT) a known brand to support their defined contribution efforts in the United Kingdom and on the continent. They have reserved our prime real estate, our back cover, to deliver their message for the balance of the year. In ‘11 we will launch Plan Sponsor Asia/Pacific edition. Recently, Global Custodian released its 2010 Prime Brokerage Survey, which received wide coverage in the business press and was quickly established as the standard for this segment of the industry. This brand, along with Strategic Insight, has had a global impact for more than 20 years.

The TRADE expanded its business several years ago by launching The TRADE Asia and this year launched The TRADE Growth Markets. They also expanded their global web presence with www.thetradenews.com. Finally, ai5000, which focuses on the professional information needs of the Chief Investment Officers of the largest global assets owners, launched their Chief Investment Officer Summit (CIOS) in New York and will hold the second summit in London on October 7th and 8th.

We will continue to expand our business by investing in our core brands on a global basis and serving the needs of our client base in the major markets they operate in.

You can learn more about our global brands and how they can assist you build your global market share by going to www.assetinternational.com.