The annual WebAwards Internet Standards Assessment Report (ISAR) from the Web Marketing Association was released this week and there is one issue in particular that its author, WMA president Bill Rice, thinks fund companies can do better.

E-mail marketing is sorely underutilized, Rice told The MFWire. "Very few fund firms leverage this tool effectively," he said.

Of those fund firms that do leverage e-mail communication, most are not using it for the goal of building a relationship with the customer, Rice said. E-mail is a way to keep the lines of communication open with shareholders. Most firms just use it to try and up-sell products, he added.

Fund companies should be using e-mail communication to give shareholders better understanding of their investments and new opportunities in the market, according to Rice.

One company that uses e-mail effectively, Rice said, is Reno, Nevada-based Navellier & Associates. Louis Navellier, the firm's chairman and founder, sends shareholders a weekly communication with market commentary. Navellier's communications are even more frequent when market conditions are rocky.

"We are in the service business and this better serves people, " Navellier told The MFWire. Navellier is also looking into making the communications more frequent and possibly starting a market blog in the future.

As with any shareholder communication done by a fund company, there are always compliance concerns, Rice said. By just giving market commentary, marketing materials will make it through compliance in good time.

Navellier said that his commentary includes very little direct information about the Navellier funds because of this.

The Web Marketing Association is also in the hunt for entries for its 2008 web awards. To put your company's website in the running, click here.  

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