I’m Jenny Adamson, Global Head of Private Capital Marketing at MSCI. For those who don’t know us, MSCI is a global company that helps investors make better decisions by providing data, research, analytics and tools to help them understand risk and performance.
I’ve been in my role for eight years, focusing primarily on private markets. Over that time, we’ve been through a number of acquisitions. We acquired Real Estate Analytics in 2021 and more recently Burgiss in 2023, which has really shaped our private markets offering.
We work with both limited partners, such as pension plans, endowments, foundations and family offices, and general partners, such as asset managers, who are navigating an increasingly complex private markets landscape. Our goal at MSCI is to bring more transparency, efficiency and confidence to this space. Right now, we’re embracing new tools like AI to deliver more relevant and personalised marketing.
Private markets are at a huge inflection point. They’re growing rapidly and are one of MSCI’s key growth drivers. Yet, with that pace of growth comes a persistent challenge — the lack of transparency and standardisation that investors have come to expect in public markets.
My role as a marketer is to simplify the complexity of both our products and the way we tell our story. I also want to inspire change by helping LPs gain deeper oversight of GPs, and empowering GPs to build stronger, more transparent relationships with their investors.
My role as a marketer is to simplify the complexity of both our products and the way we tell our story.
AI is going to accelerate this shift. It allows us to deliver insights at scale, personalise communications for different audiences and create more interactive, engaging client experiences.
It would probably be the storytelling work we’ve done to reposition MSCI within private markets. We wanted to shift perceptions of us from being seen purely as a data provider to being recognised as a strategic partner helping investors navigate complexity.
Since acquiring Burgiss, we’ve been building a brand campaign to reintroduce MSCI Private Assets to the market. Traditionally, the industry has known MSCI as an index and benchmark provider, but not for our private markets capabilities.
Through this campaign, we’ve focused on telling that broader story. AI has helped us sharpen these narratives by analysing client behaviour, identifying which messages resonate most and adapting in real time. Because of this, we’ve seen stronger engagement with senior decision-makers and faster uptake of our solutions. The pivot from product-led to client-led storytelling has made a real difference.
One of the biggest challenges we face is moving away from one-size-fits-all marketing. LPs and GPs want to know how our solutions apply directly to them.
At MSCI, we’re making our marketing more enterprise-wide, telling the global MSCI story and brand narrative while staying relevant to each audience within private markets. We have several segments across MSCI – Private Markets, Index and Analytics, ESG and Climate and Wealth – and each one has different priorities.
Our focus has been on tailoring our messages for each audience while maintaining a consistent overarching brand story. That balance helps us stay relevant without losing sight of the bigger picture.
The biggest change needed in B2B marketing is moving away from mass content and toward true personalisation. We need to personalise more and make sure everything we produce speaks directly to client pain points rather than product features.
At MSCI, we’ve shifted from product-led messaging to more client-centric storytelling. Our campaigns are now built around client challenges, such as how LPs track multiple managers or how GPs prepare for investor meetings. Using AI allows us to test ideas faster, personalise more effectively and refine our approach continuously.
We have to be bold and test new ideas. I like to give my team the opportunity to experiment – for example, we might test an idea by client segment or by region, see if it works, and then scale it globally if successful.
I also push for simplicity. If we can’t explain something clearly in plain language, we go back and rework it
I also push for simplicity. If we can’t explain something clearly in plain language, we go back and rework it. Simplifying complex ideas helps our clients understand what we’re telling them and the pain points we can solve. It also gives the team confidence to try new approaches while keeping the client front and centre.
Either ‘connection’ or ‘clarity’.
Connection, because marketers are the bridge that links so many different parts of the business – research, sales, product – and connects them to the outside world. But clarity is just as critical. Our role is to help clients understand complex solutions and see how we can help them achieve their goals.
Be bold.
I recently judged the B2B Marketing Awards with Propolis, and the campaigns that stood out were the ones that were brave. B2B marketing can be quite safe, so my advice is to take more risks.
At the same time, always start with the client’s perspective. Whether it’s an LP or a GP, put their challenges and goals at the heart of your story. If you build everything around that, your marketing will resonate and deliver real impact.
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