Many financial services make use of a well-structured risk management policy to manage their day-to-day exposure to risk, including exclusive investment entities such as hedge funds. For many years hedge funds were considered the high-stakes bad boys of the investing world; an image that the industry despised and rejected in the public eye, yet celebrated behind the closed doors of their high-rise offices and their swanky exclusive nightclubs. Over the past 36 months the hedge fund community has stepped up their efforts to shed the negativity and weariness that is often associated with them. Of course in some ways this “risky market gambler” perception was always unfounded, especially considering hedge funds use complex strategies and investment vehicles to hedge away systemic and market risk.Due to their size and unique capital structure, hedge funds were previously allowed to operate outside the stringent oversight of investment regulators, but this has changed over the past decade. While hedge funds continue to abstain from using the comprehensive risk management ‘best-practices’ of other financial services such as banks and large fund managers, they have certainly increased their use of risk management policies. These processes have evolved to monitor not only how their range of investments mitigate inherent market risk for their investors, but also how they conduct their business in general.The organizational risk philosophy at any particular hedge fund typically reflects the interest-level and commitment of that fund’s top traders and officials. The greater these managers believe in not chasing greater return at the expense of risk compliance, the stronger the fund’s risk policy is embedded throughout the entire fund’s other personnel. Many hedge funds now employ a Chief Risk Officer and have doubled their expenditures on risk management processes and risk compliance. They are increasingly seeking individuals who have obtained at least one risk management certification, focusing on credit and financial risk. These changes are the result of not only clearer minds within the hedge fund management community, but also from changing investor expectations. While hedge fund have always used complex quantitative risk management models to quell investor fears, most managers will tell you that in the past few investors know, or cared to know, how they worked. While this sentiment has not dramatically changed during these past few months, there are changing expectations from investors, especially large institutional money managers, in regards to transparency, risk analysis processes, and how business is conducted. Fund managers typically benefit from long investment time-horizons and leeway from their investors, but even traditionally ‘sticky’ investors are demonstrating a willingness to pull assets out of hedge funds if managers do not comply with the changing risk expectations.As a consequence of the 2008 financial upheaval the fund community has witnesses the creation of a series of private oversight groups, such as the ‘Hedge Fund Standards Board’. These self-regulatory bodies are creating industry benchmarks and best-practices in risk management, and from which the community can develop their own risk policies.Hedge funds of all sizes have developed and incorporated risk management policies into their operational and trading strategies. These processes include limits on acceptable losses per trader, controls and limits on the types of investments made, and formal communication and internal policing procedures. These funds offer limited transparency on how they conduct business to anyone outside their inner circle of investors, and thus individual firms are expected to internally police themselves. An predominant precursor of risk in this business is the overuse of leverage, and risk management in this area has become a hot-button issue within the fund community. Many fund managers use borrowed money (funds borrowed against the assets provided by their investors) to maximize the return on their positions, and achieve the above-market gains the industry is famous for. However, this practice leaves the firm and its investors assets exposed to unforeseen market risks. The majority of funds now have risk assessment policies in place that monitor their liabilities-to-assets ratios and prevent individual traders from exceeding leverage limits.Due diligence in many aspects of the hedge fund business has increased since the 2008 financial crisis. Fund managers are now acutely mindful of their brokerage trading connections, as well as the structure of asset-custody with transaction partners. Since the 2008 financial crisis hedge funds have learned the hard way that counter-party risks certainly do exist in the financial services sector, and the domino effect resulting from the collapse of Lehman Brothers demonstrated that even the best and brightest can be left exposed.
Why Marketing Automation Boosts Sales by 220% for Start-Ups & Smbs?
The Marketing Automation market is swelling at an incredible pace. Thanks to its affordability and key features of being an enabler and accelerator, now more and more start-ups and small businesses are signing up to its benefits.Need more reasons?Run through these quick FAQs to know just why Marketing Automation is the undisputed armour in a start-up’s kitty.Q. As a start-up founder, I am willing to go for the free-trial, but why would I want to use it thereafter?A. More than two-thirds of the companies that sign up for a free trial of Marketing Automation, end up realizing they should continue using it.Q. How long does it take to see the initial ROI after automating my marketing system?A. Of all the businesses that use marketing automation, nearly 3.75% witness a progressive ROI within the first year. For a start-up, this is insane!Moreover, start-ups can boost their ROI by using marketing automation and stand to gain from prominent features like zigihub’s micro-segmentation which can enhance campaign efficacy by 40-50%.Q. What is the biggest benefit of using marketing automation for my start-up?A. The biggest benefit is “saved time” as reported by most marketers. Marketers have expressed their delight for the amount of time they have been able to save with marketing automation. It is tremendous time… time that can be efficiently utilized in performing other equally important tasks.Q. What would my lead management be like after using it?A. Marketing Automation (MA) automatically captures twice as many leads as companies generate with a basic email system.Q. How does marketing automation help scale up my small business?A. Small businesses using MA outgrow their competitors by 63%, according to a finding by Lenskold Group.And what’s more?A whopping 451% surge in qualified leads have been reported by companies using MA system, as per a Wishpond study.To top it all, start-ups have seen their sales increase by 220% after using Marketing Automation.That for one, is quite a number!In a nutshell, your start-up or business journey can be best viewed through this flowchart… which points out the role and significance of marketing automation and what it can do for the success of your business.Voila! That is some challenging job!
Yes, but there are trusted experts like zigihub who can do this job for you effortlessly with its in-built intelligent algorithms.zigihub is a marketing automation platform for businesses and sales and marketing professionals to integrate all their marketing efforts under one umbrella. Using data science and machine learning algorithms, this CRM platform eases the job of marketers and makes the entire process of marketing a cakewalk. For small businesses, MA is full of advantages, as it literally sweeps away a large chunk of time-consuming efforts allowing businesses to scale up faster.The Enablers of Marketing AutomationCampaign ManagementCreate, run and evaluate campaigns across various channels; micro-segmentation of customers based on behaviour, buying patterns, demographics, etc. for executing targeted campaigns.Event Driven MarketingTriggered responses are generated based on customer-specific personal events like birthday or after payments, subscriptions, signing up for free trials, website visits, etc.Website MonitoringIntegrated website monitoring system uses intelligent analytics to increase website traffic and lead conversion rate.Social Media IntegrationIntegrates various social media channels into your marketing strategy by engaging customers in the digital world, thereby identifying and obtaining a holistic view of your existing customers.zigihub’s social media integration efficiently works towards 360? understanding of customer’s social behaviour. It uses fuzzy logic algorithms to match active social media users in the customer base.Email MarketingOn-the-fly segmentation of customers and leads to send personalized marketing messages through templates for increasing open rates.The Accelerators of Marketing AutomationPersonalized CommunicationFor engaging customers, segmented lists are created on the basis of their behaviour, interests and activities for sending personalized messages.Customer ProfilingSummarizing your customers and creating individual profiles from their specific purchasing patterns, demographics, etc. is known as customer profiling.Reference EngineThe Marketing Automation and CRM platform zigihub uses more than 60 algorithms through predictive analytics and machine learning to identify most promising deals and leads.Customers are increasingly looking forward to receiving product recommendations that match their preferences, buying history and likes.Campaign EffectivenessMonitoring and evaluating campaigns closely to improve its effectiveness is crucial to the success of any campaign. It includes detailed insights into analytics like opened, read, deleted, etc.MA platforms are retaining existing customer base with strategic development of their tools in line with the customer’s tastes and preferences. This helps in offering novelty, safeguarding the interests of customers and making them feel valued.These attributes of MA work in perfect harmony to drive a start-up engine and help small businesses scale up.So, if you are planning to start your own business or already have a start-up or SMB, you will find all your marketing related synergies being taken care of by Marketing Automation.As most marketers using it say, it is a silver bullet for start-ups and SMBs.
Real Estate Agent In Chicago – Helping You Purchase Your New Home
Buying a home can be very stressful, but it can be a very exciting experience with the right real estate in Chicago. Real estate agent in Chicago specializes in real estate in Chicago. You can take advantage of the knowledge of real estate agent in Chicago as they use their superb negotiation skills.A realtor’s commission is often paid by the seller, meaning that the services they offer will have no cost to you. With the advancement of technology a lot of real estate listing for the Chicago area can be found on the internet. With thorough research you can easily find the best real estate agents in Chicago.For many people, buying a home is a large step in life and can even be more complicated than it looks. Real estate agents in Chicago are interested in helping you. They provide a detailed Chicago comparative real estate market analysis to help determine the home’s purchase price. They also assist with paperwork to purchase the home such as contracts, inspections, and seller disclosures. They can even recommend you to attorneys, inspectors, and lenders that are available to help you make an easy home buying transaction.When you are ready to purchase a home in Chicago a great real estate agent can help you with the all the options. Once you tell them what you want in a home they can find the available homes that have those amenities. They will go through MLS listings daily to find the homes you might like to visit.They will also help you negotiate terms of the contract and create the most comprehensive Comparative Market Analysis for you to understand the real value of the house. They also process and coordinate paperwork such as your purchase agreement, disclosures, home inspections, home warranty protection plans, escrow instructions and more and assist you with finding a lender that will help you qualify for a home loan.A Chicago real estate agent will help you hire a real estate attorney, inspector and home warranty company. They can also guide you through the appraisal and negotiating aspects of the deal and offer professional marketing for y our property. Purchasing a home is quite a complicated process. Locate a property in Chicago that interests you and call a real estate agent and we will serve you and guide you through the deal.