The CSAM online initiative aims to strengthen client relationships by providing online access to portfolio information and reports. CSAM built its website team to include relationship managers and other client-facing roles to integrate the online and offline relationship programs. The website is intended to reduce mundane tasks for relationship managers and provide clients more value-added online access and discussions. It also aims to replace printed monthly reports with online access to current and historical portfolio data.

1. “
STRATEGY
The most noteworthy part of the CSAM online ini-
tiative is the offline strength of its Internet concept
and team. From project inception 18 months ago,
the site was seen as an integrated extension of a
comprehensive customer relationship program
already in place and strongly supported by top
management. Reflecting this, CSAM’s Robert
Birnbaum built a Web team that reaches beyond
technologists to include the active participation of
relationship managers, strategists, account service,
and marketing professionals. Thus, the online
effort and the broader relationship management
program are knit together, in support of each other
and the common business objective of retaining
assets through premium client service. CSAM’s
view is that the institutional business will remain
fundamentally a “relationship” business. Its site is
intended to unburden the relationship managers
from information delivery and mundane tasks
such as faxing and e-mailing, while introducing
opportunities for greater connectivity between
clients and the firm in more value-adding circum-
stances. The Web site provides a venue for clients
and relationship managers to access and discuss
portfolio results or commentary. CSAM anticipates
the Web will eliminate the copious paper reports
sent to clients at month-end, while providing
quicker access to both current and archival data.
SITE CRITIQUE
AESTHETICS As the main purpose of the CSAM
site is information dissemination, data and text are
consistently treated as the center of attention.
While imagery and aesthetic touches soothe the
eye and sustain interest, they do not interfere.
Content remains the focus. The cohesive look and
tone is lucid, crisp, and readable and adds to the
perception of accuracy appropriate to an informa-
tion- and data-based venue.
CONTENT From a content perspective, product
and services descriptions satisfy user expectations.
Product descriptions begin with an overview show-
casing the manager’s background, product high-
lights, and benchmarked composite performance.
A link to each investment team’s insights about the
product is provided, which permits greater product
comprehension. Product descriptions continue
with a summary of the investment process and phi-
losophy, and information about the investment
ALMOST EVERY INSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENT management firm is turning to the Internet to better
service its plan sponsor clients and to equip itself to market in an era where old-style defined benefit
marketing is more and more resembling the horse-and-buggy in the heyday of the Model T.
PLANSPONSOR asked Alec Wiggin, president of aabalone[red], a Connecticut-based marketing com-
munication and web development firm specializing in the asset management industry, to critique a cut-
ting-edge asset management Web site, that of Credit Suisse Asset Management.
CSAM.com
40 | PLANSPONSOR.com | 4.01
Case study

2. ”
team. This section also includes a table of accounts
won and lost with their respective impact on port-
folio size as well as a screen indicating composite
characteristics, such as asset allocation, p/e, sector
and quality information. Each screen provides
links to the others and the left-hand navigation
field indicates related products in each asset class.
A .pdf profile of the product, with most of the above
information, is available for download.
Product material is treated in a competent but
flat manner. A select few other investment man-
agement Web sites—Morgan Stanley Asset
Management and SSB Citi, for example—pro-
vide interactive product selectors that permit
access to information via multiple inputs speci-
fied by the user. General market commentary is
easily accessible from every page and is offered
on a monthly and weekly basis. Though clients
are usually fixed on the here and now, this sec-
tion would be strengthened with an archive area,
allowing clients to go back in time to check his-
torical perspectives. The commentary is not
attributed to any specific author or group, which
detracts from credibility.
EASE OF USE The CSAM site evidences a reason-
able effort to eliminate confusion. For the most
part, screens do not try to accomplish too much
and the navigation is good. The use of self-explana-
tory tabs relies on user conventions established by
well-known sites, such as Amazon. Their use, how-
ever, can be self-limiting, as tabs restrict the num-
ber of new features that can be added. The client-
reporting demo works nicely since it closely
approximates the experience of accessing a real
client account. Navigation between elements and
other features within the demo replicate the live
account area. Despite being easy to use, there are
some areas for improvement within the site.
Access to the CSAM institutional site from the
main Credit Suisse and CSAM sites is bumpy. The
pathway involves multiple screens, links that the
user has to scroll to find, and as many as two secu-
rity messages that require attention.
BRANDING While the CSAM site’s core mission is
client service, there are a few clear-cut opportuni-
ties for better branding. Most notable is the need to
remind the viewers that they are in the institution-
al asset management section of the larger Credit
Suisse and CSAM sites. Additionally, CSAM would
benefit if all material printed off the site gave clear
attribution to the firm, perhaps imprinting this
material with the company logo and a reference to
the site’s URL. White papers and market commen-
tary are intellectual property important to estab-
lishing and maintaining a company’s brand.
CLIENT REPORTING
STRATEGY This password-protected area was devel-
oped out of a desire to meet plan sponsor demand
and stay competitive. The strategic focus, as men-
tioned above, is to enhance the relationship
between the client and his relationship manager
rather than supplant it. CSAM intends, as much as
possible, to have online client reporting replace the
current paper format “Flash reports” that are now
distributed to clients at month-end. CSAM believes
that online reporting delivers value to clients by pro-
viding access to data as well as increased accounta-
bility and transparency of the asset manager.
CONTENT The type of screen report presented
within the password area is a standard menu of
offerings. Clients view a topline summary of each
of their portfolios that displays inception dates and
market values with links to account commentary,
relationship managers, and portfolio details—the
latter is viewable and downloadable as a raw Excel
document. The left-hand navigation field allows the
client to access specific categories of information
for screen viewing. Depending on the nature of the
client’s portfolio, these categories include perform-
ance, asset allocation, portfolio holdings, sector
exposure, quality distribution, and portfolio statis-
tics. These screens essentially are replicas of the
paper reports with which clients are familiar.
Notably, this set of reports does not include trans-
action activity or trading cost reports available on
some other institutional sites, such as on the BGI
site. All of the information presented on these var-
ious account screens is captured in an Excel file,
accessible from every page. No historical data or
commentary archive is provided at this time, but
CSAM expects to add this capability. CSAM’s client
reporting area appears to accomplish its mission of
giving clients easy access to monthly reports and
data that clients otherwise would have had to call
their relationship manager about in the past or put
their hands on the paper version of the report.
EASE OF USE The relationship manager, who per-
sonally trains the client in the use of the client
reporting capabilities of the CSAM site, makes an
overwhelming contribution to usability. Even for
those clients who are slow learners, have poor recall,
or are not Web savvy, the client reporting area is
easy to use. The log-on is simple and clear, provided
as the first link within the main content of the site’s
home page. The client reporting area succeeds in
doing a good job of delivering customized content
and keeping it the focal point of the screen. It is easy
for a client to move among the various sections of
the entire site while logged into an account. Other
factors that contribute to effective client reporting
are the ability to bookmark the log-in page, well-
written and pointed error messages, and the timing
out of a client session if the screen remains inactive
for a period of time. The latter feature reassures
clients that security is a priority at CSAM.
4.01 | PLANSPONSOR.com | 41
The online effort and the broader
relationship management program are knit together,
in support of each other and the common business
objective of retaining assets through premium client service
by Alec Wiggin, president, aabalone[red]
www.aabalonered.com