The surprising delight of remote beauty pageants in the USA

I am one of nineteen judges at the annual mutual fund industry awards 2020 in the USA. This annual Fund Intelligence event, led by the eponymous publisher Pageant Media, normally involves a big banquet ceremony in New York City, where the winners are celebrated, collecting hard-won awards and applauded for their success.

Months back, I was asked to be a judge. I am just one of many and I think I am the only one from a faraway island, the United Kingdom. I'd imagined, vaguely, the prizes and award celebrations might have been postponed because of lock down. Nothing of it.

I received emails and links to a sophisticated website, where the awards for which I was selected and on which I was expected to vote were presented, those with a marketing and brand focus. Within the special micro-site were the submissions, tidily packaged and served, for my review. It took me nearly two days, the technology was patient, I would review and draft. And so off I went. It was mesmerising.

Rarely is one so honoured to assess so many references, examples, campaigns, websites, rationales and links to so much, but in such a tidy way, in one place in one quiet time. I took it very seriously, all 21. The range of applications were delightful. The written word is also almost forgotten in our multi-media world, but it is very, very important, the submissions demand some scrutiny.

Fund managers will know of the devilish process of RFPs and RFIs. These are the "Requests for Particulars" or information from an institution, questionnaires to manage a mandate. There are departments deployed for the task in big firms. Given the pace of submissions, it is also very easy to make schoolboy errors. Like agencies pitching for corporate accounts, it is natural to re-dress old submissions, I think I am not telling tales out of school that one such submission earlier in my career was about the ethnic diversity. The reply waxed lyrically about Asian female staff in Asia-Pacific, however the mandate was for a public sector pension fund in Wales in British Isles, so concerned about how many Welsh nationals rather than English staff, not the global wider picture.

Enormous care also has to be taken in judging. Should a glamorous new disruptor start up, with an exciting new asset class, be favoured over a tired old monolith magnificently trying to refresh its stale persona? Do the automated visitor metrics on social media offer the same validity as less mechanical measures of consideration, favourability, delight and and closure. Are some writing to impress the home office, are others idly repeating apple-pie mantras? If so, do they feel authentic relative to the submission and collateral?

I don't know the answers nor the winners, I am only one of nineteen judges. But it was very educational and I do salute them all for writing down why they want to be considered as winners. Well done Pageant Media too, it is quite an organisational exercise and I was delighted to be asked to judge and learn.

https://mutualfundindustryawards.awardstage.com/#!/shortlist-2020