As a result, we have put together a short white paper with tips from some of the leading GPs and LPs in the region.  This advice is relevant for private equity funds globally.

Download the paper here:

What Does it Take to Persuade Investors – White Paper for Private Equity Fund Raising

ends

Win More Business When You Pitch
Would you like to increase the number of pitches you win, and improve the pitching skills of your team? From our tailored training you will take away pitching tips that you can apply immediately. One global law firm told us that the partner training we developed was directly responsible for winning a new FTSE100 client. See Case Study

A quick return on your investment is one of the many benefits of working with us. Read what our clients have been saying.

Make the Right First Impression
People buy people. Humans make instant decisions and only later use facts to justify those decisions. This is as true for investment decisions as for buying software or professional services. The good news is that you can improve the first impression you make. For example, what happens in your first 30 seconds when you meet a potential customer? Can you be sure that you have made the right impression? This is one of the many things you will work on in our Professional Pitch training

Know How You Want Others to See You
Unless you are clear how you want to be seen by others, it’s a real challenge to get the results you want. But, the simple question: “What impression do you want to make?” is hard to answer. To be a good leader you should be clear how you want others to see you, and your goals. Once we help you clarify how you want to be seen, we can then polish what you say and how you say it. Learn about our Leadership Communications Training.

Don’t Get Stuck with PowerPoint Presentations
Alas, no. PowerPoint is not going to go away. But we have completely changed how hundreds of people use this software. For example, did you know that PowerPoint is a terrible planning tool? There are many more effective ways of structuring and story-boarding your next presentation. Then, with your presentation, do you just “turn the pages” in a meeting? From our presentation training workshops you will learn how better to plan, make more impact and, most importantly, make a real positive impression with your audiences. This means clear confident communications, engaged listeners and much more successful communications. Learn about our Expert Presentation Training.

Deliver Powerful Financial Presentations
Financial presentation should never be dull. But good financial presentations are all about how well you tell your story. Tell it properly and you connect with your audience – whether it is the board, or your investors or financial commentators. There are tried and tested techniques you can use to tell powerful financial stories. Our experts help businesses, hedge funds and private equity firms with their results presentations, investor days and fundraising presentations.  Email us to learn how we can help you Polish your Financial Presentations.

Pitch, Present and Persuade
If you have an important pitch or presentation coming up, or you want to improve the skills of your team, call us to discuss how to be confident you get the results you want.

Kind regards

Benjamin Ball
0845 676 9766

Blue Sky – preparing the ceo and team for important new business pitches

Olswang – building business development skills in this distinctive international law firm

Impetus – Clarifying messages and Building fundraising skills

When you give a conference talk (or any other bit of public speaking) you want to sound impressive.

But, too many people fall into this trap:  The way we speak and the way we write are very different.  What looks good when written is unlikely to sound good when spoken.

So, if you prepare by writing a script, do it differently.  The rule of thumb is “Speak then Write”.  Say your words out loud and then capture them on paper.

Then, with your spoken script as a first draft,  spend time practicing.  Get a critical audience and ask for feedback on how well you come across.  Keep changing: fixing your words and your performance.

If you can. get a professional to advise you how to sound and look impressive.  They will show you new ways to use words and lots of tricks to engage with your audience.   You will be surprised what a difference expert advice can make.

If you want to discuss your conference speaking with an expert, call Benjamin Ball Associates on +44 20 7193 0130

When they work well, panel sessions are the lifeblood of any conference.  When bad, they are a disaster.

But what makes a great panel session?

At BBA we prepare a lot of people for panel sessions.  The real value comes from good planning. But,  if you are heading for a panel session now and want to ensure a performance that will make you stand out, do just these three things:

1. Focus only on what really matters to this audience and give lots of practical advice.  Tell stories and give examples.
2. Create a debate.  Disagree. Have an opinion and argue your corner.  Use lines that are quotable.
3. Sit forward, speak up and talk directly to the audience.  Show your passion; make sure every word and every phrase hits home.

Good Luck!

If you would like more advice about how to prepare  and deliver great conference panel sessions call Benjamin Ball Associates on +44 7193 0130

To accompany your conference talk you may want to use visual aids.  What some people do is re-use their PowerPoint slides which have worked well in their pitch books.

This is a huge mistake.

It’s the equivalent of making a movie by filming pages from a book.

IMPROVE YOUR VISUAL AIDS

If you want to use visual aids in your conference presentation then make sure these really are visual aids.  I.e. do they really help your audience understand what you are saying? Are they clear, simple and can they be read at the back of the room.   If not, then either leave them out or re-design them.

You will find that this simple change makes you much more impressive and you will come across as a more effective communicator.

If you want help preparing your colleagues for conference talks contact Benjamin Ball Associates on 0845 676 9766.

Seven funds competed by pitching their investment ideas for no more than 90 seconds  to a room packed with potential investors.

QUALITY NOT QUANTITY

Demonstrating that quality beats quantity every time , Simone Balch of DW Markets secured second place in this popular competition. Speaking to a packed conference hall Simone gave her carefully crafted pitch in just 45 seconds -  half the allotted time.

But first prize was secured by John Cheuk of Ant Capital.  Using the whole 90 seconds he clearly laid out why there was value to be found in Japan and how Ant Cap was well placed to capture this value.  Ant does this by investing in small and mid cap buyouts.

The competition was chaired by presentation expert Benjamin Ball and judged by 5 experienced Private Equity investors:  Jeffrey Reals of Performance Equity Management, Robert van Schaik of Shell Asset Management, Ewoud van de Sande of Robeco, Allen MacDonell of Teachers Texas and Seth Hall of Calstrs.

TIPS FOR BETTER ELEVATOR PITCHES

Drawing on his experience preparing teams for fundraisings and investor presentations Benjamin Ball gave detailed advice  to those who did not win.  This included:

Ben also summarised the three things that your pitch must achieve to be successful.  Your audience should come away with

If you achieve this, you are a long way towards a successful fundraising pitch.

For more advice about polishing your fundraising documents and performance contact Benjamin Ball Associates on +44 20 7193 0130.

Private Equity firms need to communicate better with their investors (LPs) to ensure fundraising success.  This was the conclusion from the Fundraising Summit at SuperInvestor 2011 in Paris.

“Communication and transparency is absolutely key” states Mark O’Hare, CEO of private equity experts Preqin.  Throughout the day funds, investors and IR experts repeated the message that times had changed.

“Make your story as clear and simple as possible. Complex stories are not selling in this market” said Gordon Hargreaves of Private Advisors.  “You Never Stop Fundraising. You should always remind your investors what makes you special”

GPs need to re-think how they handle investor meetings according to many LPs. Mounir Guen of MVision summed it up ”Going to a meeting and talking for an hour and listening for 3 minutes is not good communications.”

GPs showed they understand the importance of investor communications when over 100 delegates picked up the Benjamin Ball Associates guide to better LP relations.

The challenges of fundraising in today’s uncertain times was another improtant message to emerge.  “Make sure your partnership is ready for the tough 18 months to first close”  ”You need to think of your story in terms of very risk-averse investment committees” was a consistent message.

And the importance of on-going communications was repeated by LPs.  “Showing up every 3-4 years as part of the fundraising is just not good enough” said Neal Sneddon of F&C.

To improve communications, many GPs are investing in their Investor Relations teams. “IR means Regular contact, knowing your LP and not falling into the trap of being the eternal optimist said Dushy Sivanithy of Pantheon Ventures.

Darwin Private Equity is one exampe of a mid-sized PE firm who has invested in high quality IR professionals.  “IR needs a good understanding of business needs of LPs and GPs” said Harjinder Johal, in charge of IR at Darwin.

And much of the work of IR is just making sure the basics work right.  “We make sure our investors hear news about Darwin first from us, not the press” summed up Harijinder.

If you want to discuss how Benjamin Ball Associates can help you improve your investor pitches and presentations, contact us today.

Paris, 15th November