How can fund managers cut through the noise and truly connect with professional investors in 2025?

That’s the question we set out to answer in our latest research.

We surveyed 253 professional investors across the UK and US to understand how they engage with fund providers — what gets their attention, what earns their trust, and what gets ignored. The results reveal a clear gap between what fund managers think is working and what actually drives engagement.

This white paper shares the key findings from our research. For those who want to go deeper, we’re offering one-on-one sessions to explore the full results, including best-practice examples and the results of a vote on who’s creating the best emails and events.

Email

Email remains the most direct and effective channel for engaging financial advisors. An overwhelming 77% check their inbox at least hourly, with a third saying they check constantly.

This presents a clear opportunity for timely, well-crafted emails to land at the right moment—if the send time is optimal. Tools that automatically adjust send times based on engagement data (Send Time Optimization) can dramatically improve visibility and response rates.

But cutting through the noise is harder than ever. Nearly two-thirds of advisors receive more than 20 emails from providers each week, and 59% hear from over 10 different firms.

With this level of saturation, it’s no surprise that 80% say they only read “some” of the emails they receive—typically skimming by subject line to decide what’s worth opening.

The subject line and preview text have never mattered more. Clear, benefit-led language can significantly increase open rates.

When it comes to the sender, 37% of advisors prefer emails to come from their Sales Manager, while most of the rest don’t mind either way. Only 4% wanted emails sent from a Marketing email. Given that a named contact helps to build trust and familiarity, it makes sense to personalise the sender and email signoff – something that can easily be automated using tools like StoneShot.

Interestingly, only a third of advisors actually unsubscribe if they’re not interested in the content. That means, if the content isn’t engaging, they’ll ignore you. This underlines the importance of going beyond unsubscribes and tracking metrics like email click rates and the website journey beyond to truly understand engagement levels.

Design-wise, the majority of advisors still don’t use dark mode—only 19% said they use it sometimes or always. But like mobile responsiveness a decade ago, dark mode is growing and worth preparing for. Ensuring your emails render well in all environments demonstrates professionalism and attention to detail.

Finally, when asked what influences whether they open an email, 77% said the topic, and 51% cited the provider they work with.

The implication is clear: content relevance is king. Advisors want updates that speak directly to the markets, funds, and challenges they care about—generic messaging just doesn’t cut it.

In summary, email is still a powerful tool, but only if approached with precision. Timing, relevance, personalisation, and format all play a part in standing out in a saturated inbox.

Fund Documents

Fund documents remain a core part of how advisors research, assess, and support their client recommendations. Half of advisors access more than 20 fund documents per month, with almost one in five reviewing over 40.

This frequency underscores the importance of making documents easy to find, filter, and access.

Currently, 60% of advisors rely on fund websites to download documents, while only a quarter receive them by email. However, this doesn’t reflect advisor preferences—62% say they want fund updates sent to them by email.

Preferences around how documents are sent vary: 41% want a tailored email with their chosen documents, while 21% are happy to receive all documents at once.

Timeliness is also key. 71% prefer a monthly cadence, while 14% want weekly updates and 15% would like them immediately when available.

For firms with a relatively small fund range, a monthly round-up with links to all documents can be an efficient and appreciated approach. For those managing larger fund ranges, giving advisors choice on which funds and how often they receive updates helps manage the communication load and improve usability.

The takeaway is clear: fund documents are a high-value asset in the communication mix, and delivering them in a way that matches advisor expectations can deepen engagement and demonstrate responsiveness.

Events

Events continue to play a vital role in how asset managers connect with and educate advisors and showcase expertise. 83% of advisors attend up to 10 events each year, showing there’s real appetite—but also a clear limit to how many they’re willing to fit in.

When it comes to format, lunch presentations dominate in the US, preferred by 85% of advisors. In EMEA, preferences are more varied: 51% prefer lunch sessions, 44% favour breakfast, and 38% opt for half-day presentations. This suggests that shorter, more digestible formats are favoured overall.

To boost attendance, timing alone isn’t enough. When choosing events, advisors prioritise Topic first, then Location, followed by the Fund Group. Content may be king, but the venue really matters. Targeting invites by region—not just client lists—can lift attendance and reduce friction. At StoneShot, we manage a master list of the most popular venues used by fund managers, ranked by the registration to attendance rate. It means you can choose the best venues with confidence.

When asked what they value most from events, advisors cited three top expectations: increasing product knowledge, access to fund managers, and earning attendance certificates. Education and insights clearly drive value more than networking or product pitches.

On the client experience front, expectations are evolving. 54% of advisors want meeting invites to go straight into their calendar after registering, while just 19% are satisfied downloading calendar files manually. We’re enhancing our event solution by adding “native” calendar invites after a client registers. Ensuring the event is in their calendar helps drive attendance, and we’ll be able to cancel attendance too if the event is removed from their calendar.

This is an easy win—ensure calendar integration is automated as part of your event journey. Convenience is now part of the experience.

In summary, events are still highly valued—but only when done thoughtfully. Prioritise location, time-efficient formats, and ease of access to content, and you’ll be rewarded with stronger engagement and better outcomes.

Let’s Take This Further

This white paper only scratches the surface. Our full research uncovers what the most effective asset managers are doing to stand out—with clear winners emerging in both email marketing and event strategy.

We’d love to share these insights with you in a one-on-one session. We’ll walk through:

• The full dataset from over 250 advisors across the UK and US
• Best practice examples from leading brands
• Who’s creating the best emails and content, voted by professional investors

Book a session to see where you stand—and what you could be doing better.