The prevalence of thematic investing isn’t a new concept in the world of venture capital or when discussing the diversification of your stock portfolio, so why haven’t investment banks adopted this ideology? Traditionally, investment banks look to sell you on “we are the industry experts in [your] companies’ sector”, but in today’s rapidly evolving market landscape, we don’t believe you can put successful companies into a singular box confined by one sector or end customer. Themes go beyond the product or service a company offers, they embody the companies’ values and mission that allow them to be more than just their financial profile, which is where true value is realized.

From our experience, we know companies that encompass one or more of our core themes are more likely to recognize premium outcomes not only in today’s market but are the fundamental pillars of the successful companies of tomorrow as well. Accessibility, community, personalization, and resiliency are our four themes that we believe lead to long term success and transcend traditional metrics like top and bottom-line figures.

Unlike traditional investment banks, we understand that companies are more than their financial profile and that true value is derived from what’s under the hood.

We take the time to assess our thematic attributes within all companies we work with because we know how to best position our themes better than anyone. We have developed a comprehensive framework that couples our sector expertise with our thematic focus areas to get our clients the best outcomes. This approach allows us to prioritize what truly matters, drawing out significant value, and allowing us to focus on what’s important to our clients and key stakeholders.  

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Our Themes:

We believe our four core themes, accessibility, community, personalization, and resiliency are all critical internal and external attributes that underpin successful companies both in the short-term and into the future.

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Accessibility:

Technology has quickly become interwoven into the fabric of our daily lives, but ensuring accessibility for all users has become increasingly challenging as the technological landscape rapidly evolves. The definition of accessibility is versatile; however, we have come to understand accessibility as the democratization of technology, wherein a company must make their product, services, or information widely available and usable to a diverse range of individuals. This entails pricing the product appropriately for its target market, ensuring user-friendliness, and making it intuitive for users of all ages and technical acumen to adopt and use effectively.

Accessibility stands as a critical factor in the ongoing success of a business. Without it, usage barriers emerge, hindering adoption and leading to customer churn. Conversely, companies that prioritize accessibility not only avoid the financial burdens of heightened customer service, onboarding, or implementation costs, but are well-positioned to capture more of their addressable market and experience greater customer retention.

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Community:

Businesses that foster community, both within their own organizations and externally within their customer bases gain a significant strategic advantage over their competitors. This is because community is not confined to a specific industry or sector but brings together like-minded individuals with shared interests or goals. The sense of community enables companies to harness the power of a highly engaged, connected and passionate ecosystem of individuals leading to enhanced loyalty, retention, and culture.

We see Community as a key macro tailwind here to stay for the foreseeable future. This is due to a decline in social capital globally that has only been exacerbated over the past few years with the rise of personalized media content and shift towards remote work brought on by COVID-19.

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Personalization:

The era of the impersonal, one-size fits all approach to business is fading as people increasingly demand authentic interaction and tailor-made experiences from the products and services they use. We see personalization going beyond mere customization, personalization involves deep understanding, unique approaches, and genuine interactions between organization and customer.

No longer a nice to have, but a need to have, personalization enhances the emotional connection between employees as well as with customers. Personalization is the instrument that nurtures long-term relationships that enables the flywheel affect, generating strong value over time between all stakeholders.

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Resiliency:

In today’s rapidly evolving market, resiliency has become one of the most scrutinized attributes of a business. Can a business survive anything that’s thrown at them? Whether it be the outbreak of war, a downturn in the market, a global pandemic, the great attrition of talent or anything else that businesses have little to no control over, successful businesses must overcome adversity. Resilient companies not only simply survive, they take leaps forward by reorienting themselves to meet their needs.

Resiliency is multifaceted. Companies must exhibit adaptability, agility and have the proper leadership in place. It is one thing for a particular business model to be resilient, but resiliency is more than just the model, it’s the preparation and active decision making necessary to be resilient. We typically see businesses resonate resilience with the short term, focused on weathering the present storm. However, for long-term success and substantial outcomes, it’s crucial for businesses to view resilience as a much more expansive concept.

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Benefits:

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As referenced above, the themes we highlight apply to both the internal and external operations of a business which directly correlate to financial outperformance.

Internal: Collaboration, Talent Attraction and Retention, Enhanced Morale, Aligns Interests Towards a Common Goal, Alleviates Internal Stresses Allowing Companies to Focus on Growth

External: Enhanced Feedback Loop, Brand Loyalty, Increased Engagement, Real-Time Insights, Positive Brand Perception, Capacity to Scale, Customer Satisfaction, Positive Customer Sentiment

Financial: Lower Customer Acquisition Costs, Higher Customer Retention, Increased Gross Margins through Lower Service Costs, Higher Conversion Rates, Cross-Selling and Upselling Opportunities

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Conclusion:

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Accessibility, community, personalization, and resiliency have the power to transform a business. We know that companies that touch on our themes have both intangible and tangible attributes that create competitive differentiation.

By utilizing an approach that intersects our sector expertise and utilization of themes to draw out a company’s true value, we truly are the next generation of investment bank

Knowing that we can drive premium outcomes for companies that embody our core themes, we are highly selective as to companies we represent. Should you wish for us to elaborate on our thematic approach, know a company that we should speak to, or simply look to learn more about who we are, we welcome the opportunity to speak.