Question

Topic: Other

Mission Statement Needs Refining

Posted by sb on 6/4/2019 at 8:12 PM ET 250 Points
We're looking for help refining a Mission Statement here for our fund.

This is what we have now. I figured the more specific, the better:

To become the country’s preeminent private capital allocator and alternative investment advisor for ERISA-based pension plans, specifically Self-Directed IRAs, by introducing smaller investors to privileged, early-stage opportunities in private equity previously accessible only to the ultra-wealthy. We deliver interest-aligned results to ensure our values are shared throughout the fund.

And there we go. Thank you very much in advance for reading this.

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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 6/5/2019 at 2:28 PM Member
    There's a lot of buzzwords in the statement and also a lot of phrases that likely would be in the mission statement of your competitors. What is the core purpose of your organization and how will you triumph in achieving it? Who is the audience for your statement and after reading it, how do you want them to feel about you?
  • Posted by mgoodman on 6/5/2019 at 2:36 PM Moderator
    I agree overall with Jay's comments. Let's focus on two things initially:

    1. Who exactly is your primary target audience? Where? What's important to them? How do they currently select an advisor ... or do they do it themselves?

    2. Why YOU? What unique and important benefit will they realize when they work with you? How are you different/better than your competitors?

    Stay away from the buzzwords for now. Just deal with the substance of your mission statement.
  • Posted by sb on 6/5/2019 at 3:07 PM Author
    You guys are stars! Thank you.

    Can you tell me which buzzwords you dont like, or perhaps and example of what you think a strong mission statement sounds like
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 6/5/2019 at 4:56 PM Member
    Buzzwords include: preeminent private capital allocator, ERISA-based, privileged, early-stage opportunities, private equity, ultra-wealthy, and interest-aligned results.

    Don't try to copy someone else's mission statement. It's focused on the points Michael & I brought up: who do you help, how are you different, what does success look like? This is different from a vision statement, which may or may not be relevant to your project. How would you to explain your mission to a teenager?
  • Posted by mgoodman on 6/5/2019 at 6:18 PM Moderator
    Who is the Mission Statement for? What is its purpose?

    There is usually a bit of confusion/redundancy between Vision, Mission and Positioning, so it's worth figuring out what you want the statement to do and who is going to see/use it. What it's called is probably less important than the intended use/audience.
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 6/6/2019 at 9:55 AM Accepted
    It is often good to pull out the main point you want to give, and then see if the rest your wrote is really needed.

    If I am reading it right, I see this shortened version as possibly your main goal: "To give smaller retirement plan investors access to privileged, early-stage opportunities in private equity previously accessible only to the ultra-wealthy."

    If this is correct, what of the rest is needed?
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