private banking magazin: You are Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Client Experience at M&G Investment. How do you personally define the role of marketing in an asset-management firm today?
Laura Brown: I see marketing in asset management first and foremost as a trust-building discipline. Our clients make long-term decisions in a world of uncertainty, so marketing has to create clarity, not noise.
At M&G Investment, that means telling our story with substance: explaining who we are, how we think, and why we invest the way we do, rather than simply listing products. Clients are overwhelmed with content, so relevance and usefulness matter far more than volume.
Marketing also plays a critical internal role. It connects investment expertise, distribution and client experience, and it is often where innovation and creativity are applied most practically – finding better ways to simplify complexity, improve client experience and communicate ideas more effectively.
In that sense, modern marketing is not decoration; it is a strategic capability that helps make long-term investment thinking accessible, relevant and credible.
Was there a defining moment in your career that led you into marketing rather than another function within financial services?
Brown: I didn’t start out in marketing. I joined M&G Investment on the graduate scheme and spent time across different parts of the business, before working in strategy for several years. That gave me a deep understanding of how an asset manager really works – what drives commercial success, where complexity creeps in, and how decisions are actually made.
When that chapter ended, I returned to M&G Investment in strategy. So when the opportunity to step into marketing arose in early 2023, it felt like a natural progression. It allowed me to combine strategic thinking with creativity, and to have a more direct, tangible impact at a time when the business was focused on rebuilding and sharpening its identity.
In many ways, marketing is where all of those experiences now come together.
Asset management is often described as a “product you cannot touch.” What initially attracted you to marketing in such an intangible industry?
Brown: The intangibility is exactly the attraction. Marketing active asset management is a real challenge – you’re not selling a product you can touch, but judgement, people and long-term thinking.
That creates a strong incentive to humanise what can feel abstract and to communicate investment ideas in a way that feels credible and engaging. It also creates an opportunity to stand out.
I was drawn by the belief that we could do things differently from many peers – through our brand, thought leadership, events and client experiences – and create something more distinctive in the market.
You are a strong advocate of a brand-first approach. Why do you believe brand should come before products or campaigns in asset management?
Brown: I wouldn’t describe it as brand before products, but rather brand alongside products. In asset management you have to do both: build for the long term while also supporting near-term commercial priorities.
In a performance-driven industry, how do you convince senior leadership and investment teams that long-term brand building is a strategic asset rather than a soft discipline?
Brown: At M&G Investment, we’re fortunate that senior leadership already understands the value of brand. Seven or eight years ago the business had a very strong brand, and the benefits were evident in both growth and resilience through market cycles.
Would you say brand-first thinking is more important internally – as a leadership and cultural tool – or externally, as a differentiator for clients?
Brown: Brand thinking works best when it connects the internal and the external – when what we say to clients genuinely reflects how the business operates. That consistency is what builds credibility, both inside the firm and in the market.
Without a physical product, what is the true substance of marketing for an asset manager: trust, education, perspective, or something else?
Brown: It’s all of those things – but they only work if they are anchored in trust.
Without a physical product, the true substance of asset management marketing is confidence in people, process and judgement. Education and perspective help create that, but they also need to be reinforced by consistency, transparency and a willingness to explain decisions over time, not just when performance is strong.
Ultimately, the best marketing helps clients understand how you think, not just what you offer. That understanding is what builds long-term trust.
How has the role of marketing in asset management evolved over the past decade – from communication to interpretation and translation of expertise?
Brown: Marketing in asset management has moved well beyond communication and is now increasingly about interpretation, translation and measurable impact.
M&G produces thought-leadership formats such as Bond Vigilantes in the UK, deeply rooted in your fixed-income heritage. What role does intellectual authority play in your marketing strategy?
Brown: Thought leadership plays a very specific role for us. It is not about volume or visibility, but about demonstrating how we think.
From a marketing perspective, good thought leadership builds credibility over time. It reinforces our identity, supports trust in our investment teams and creates a deeper connection than product-led communication alone. When done well, it shows clients not just what we offer, but the quality of judgement behind it.
With Ampersand, M&G Investment has created a multi-award-winning magazine that feels closer to quality journalism than traditional marketing. How do you protect such formats from short-term commercial pressure?
Brown: The key is being very clear from the outset that formats like Ampersand support our brand objectives, not short-term campaigns. While we obviously review the performance of each edition, success is measured against long-term brand KPIs.