With the advent of Covid-19 and lockdown measures imposed throughout the world, firms have resorted to online events to continue sending their message to clients.
One of them is Manulife Investment Management, which organised 15 webinars for Asia-Pacific clients in a span of two months, according to Jessica Luchangco, Hong Kong-based head of strategic marketing and contents for Asia.
The firm’s live webinars collectively gathered 7,000 views from distributors, including banks, and financial advisers across the region, Luchangco noted. Hong Kong accounted for around 43% or 3,000 of the total views.
“End-investors still prefer some human-based service either by phone and online, and they want their advisers to talk to them when making investment decisions. That is why we have webinars prepared [first] for our agents and bank partners,” Luchangco told FSA.
However, finding the right webinar format was not easy for the firm. For its first webinars, Manulife IM started with an audio-only format, with one speaker doing a presentation with slides, according to Daphne Yeung, Hong Kong-based senior director for investment communications for Asia.
Not enough
That format was not enough, however, as the speaker did not have enough time to accommodate all questions after the presentation, Yeung said.
In addition, the firm received feedback that the presentations lacked the “human touch” element, which viewers preferred to have.
“We had lots and lots of questions coming in, and we noticed that participants preferred interactive sessions. Eventually, we learned and adjusted how we delivered content to our viewers,” Yeung said.
That made the firm to change the solo presentation format to a panel discussion, where speakers were also shown live on the webinar.
“We had a moderator interacting with two speakers facing in front of the camera, and we also included a longer live Q&A session to facilitate questions,” Yeung said.
“We also look at questions that were not or cannot be answered and follow up with our investment teams to provide further answers,” Yeung added.
Other firms have also indicated that having more interactive webinars is key to making sure viewers actively participate during an online event.
For example, Oreana Financial Services organised an online Zoom-based wine tasting event in Hong Kong, Isaac Poole, the firm’s chief investment officer, said previously.
“We partnered with Wine Brothers in Hong Kong who delivered wine to our clients, and then the winemaker from Auld Family Wines held a wine tasting after I gave an economic overview. It went really well – the engagement was probably stronger than face-to-face. So far, our clients have really embraced digital communication,” he said.
Online distribution up
Besides webinar activity, the volume of transactions within Manulife IM’s online distribution platform, Invest Choice, also increased during the year, according to Luchangco. Launched in February in Hong Kong last year, the platform allows end-users to subscribe and redeem mutual funds, as well as access fund information.
“In Q1 alone, Invest Choice AUM sales doubled,” Luchangco said.
“It provided our customers with something that is easy for them to use, especially during this time.”
The platform does not only carry Manulife IM funds. Other products on Invest Choice include those managed by Alliance Bernstein, Blackrock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Invesco, JP Morgan Asset Management and Schroders, according to the firm’s website.
“The chosen asset managers and products were selected to identify not only those managers who have strong performance records, but also those who have protected investor capital in turbulent markets,” Luchangco said.
The firm is also active on social media, having posted 30 investment-related social media posts that have gathered 3.9 million views within the region, Luchangco added.
She noted that the social media platforms that the firm uses may vary across markets. For example, in Hong Kong, it makes use of Facebook and We Chat. In Malaysia and the Philippines, it has separate Facebook accounts, while Line is used in Taiwan.
“What is popular in Hong Kong could be different from that in the Philippines or Taiwan,” she said.
In terms of social media activity, Hong Kong accounts for around 27% of the total social media views in the region, while Malaysia continues to be the most active market when viewing social media posts.
