Russell Communications | Best European PR Firm in ETFs
Interview with Pippa Russell, Russell Communications
It is a huge honour for us to have been recognised with this prestigious award for our work within the European ETF investment sector. As a relatively new agency, we continually strive to provide the highest quality service to our clients, supporting them in building, managing, protecting and growing their reputation.
With extensive experience within the ETF ecosystem, our clients include platforms, wealth managers, ETF providers and fintechs. I believe the passion, hard work, professionalism and imagination that we bring to our clients has helped us become successful in our industry and it is enormously exciting for our hard work to have been recognised by our peers.
Recent times, with sky-high inflation and extreme market volatility, have put our investment sector very much under the microscope. I believe that the qualities that ETFs offer in terms of their transparency and liquidity (as well as their cost efficiencies) will see the increased awareness and demand for these wrappers continue to grow. As a business we are well positioned to support our clients in telling their story and communicate efficiently with their key stakeholders in this ever-changing economic environment.
What is the size and scale of your business at the moment?
Russell Communications is a Bath based PR and marketing business specialising in financial services. We launched to market in 2021 and since then have gone from strength to strength attracting national and international clients. In our first full year of trading in 2022, we successfully tripled our client base as well as doubling our workforce. We were also able to increase our turnover by more than 85 per cent. We hope to increase our headcount in 2023 and are actively recruiting at present.
Our aim, looking forward, is to become a leader in our sector which we think we will achieve by delivering energetic and professional services that get real tangible results. Our client work has been very well received.
What trends have you seen over the past year?
The ETF market has seen phenomenal growth over the past few years with a huge surge in new entrants and product innovation, 2023 (and beyond) is widely tipped to see this trend continue. ETFs are no longer on the side lines of an adviser or wealth manager investment kit bag but rather an essential tool in providing investment solutions for their clients.
The way ETFs are portrayed, their reputation, I believe has also seen a seismic shift. In the past ETFs tended to be largely viewed as essentially tracker products tied to various indices. This does not accurately reflect our market which has seen huge growth and innovation across active and thematic funds as investors strive for alpha in turbulent markets.
Much has also been written about the move from niche to mainstream for ESG investing and I believe this trend is set to continue. As ESG becomes part of the corporate fabric, investors (and stakeholders) are increasingly requiring that sustainable considerations become a “must have” essential part of the financial landscape.
Where do you see the ETF industry going in terms of products over the coming year?
Last year Cybersecurity was hot topic and from conversations with ETF providers, I believe this a trend that is expected to continue as cloud adoption continues to increase and geopolitical conflicts drive greater emphasis at both government and business levels. Clean energy, Robotics and AI are also ones to watch for new launches in 2023.
