Hedge Fund Leadership Succession

Situation: When investing with a hedge fund, investors want to know and trust the name behind the firm. The managing partner of a leading hedge fund – the face of the company in the press – left the firm for a political appointment. The hedge fund was left with a new managing partner who had a limited public and online presence. The hedge fund turned to Five Blocks to increase, and then manage, the presence of the incoming partner.

Challenges: While the departing executive had a strong public and online presence, the succeeding partner’s online presence was confusing and disjointed. Rather than a corporate bio and other expected search results, a search for his name resulted in Facebook pages and images of other people with the same name. The firm was understandably concerned that these results would damage investor confidence.

Solutions: To establish the managing partner’s presence, Five Blocks executed a program which included:

1. Enhancing Digital Presence: Coordinating changes to the firm’s corporate website and ensuring the managing partner’s prominence in search engine queries.
2. Wikipedia Efforts: Working with Wikipedia editors, Five Blocks helped to create and submit a Wikipedia page with appropriately sourced content and a professional image. This content was subsequently used by the media.
3. Optimizing Content: Ensuring that relevant links appeared when stakeholders queried the managing partner on a search engine.

Results: Within a few months of Five Blocks working with the hedge fund, results included:

• The succeeding partner appeared far more prominently in queries for the fund.
• The managing partner was featured in a list of the most powerful people on Wall Street in a leading business publication. All of the content about the managing partner was sourced from their Wikipedia page initiated by Five Blocks.
• The managing partner earned a Google Knowledge Graph (see below) which presented him as a recognized entity online.
• The managing partner told Five Blocks that their efforts helped build trust with current and potential investors.