Our Experience: Results, Case Studies & Testimonials
We have extensive experience in finance and technology markets.
We work for software vendors and consultancies that support the investment management community. In particular, we work with financial technology vendors that market to the buy-side (asset managers, hedge fund managers, asset servicers, asset owners, wealth managers etc).
We are delighted to announce that we won the award for Most Innovative Fintech Communications Specialists at the Wealth & Finance International Fintech Awards in 2023.
Software vendors
Consultancies
- Citisoft
- Ernst & Young
- HedgeStart
- Pentagon
- Point Group
Insurance firms
- Cunningham Lindsey USA
Stockbrokers
- ADM Securities
- Arjent
Wealth managers
- St James’s Place Partnership
Case Studies
Russ Bryan - Founder
Russ started his career in the 80s, working with a number of major companies (including American Express and Demon Internet), in PR and marketing roles, before moving into consultancy (Landmark Consulting, Band & Brown Communications, Ascension Consulting). He has consulted for Cisco Systems, Swiss Re, Sony Ericsson, BT and Xchanging, in addition to all the finance and technology firms listed here.
Russ led the branding and communications during the MBO of Misys Asset Management Systems from Misys plc in 2003, successfully launching Rhyme Systems (a leading back office software vendor) to the market. He has worked in finance and technology markets ever since.
He graduated from Middlesex Business School in 1990 with a 2:1 Degree in Business Studies, and holds diplomas in Marketing, PR and Market Research. A Chartered Marketer, Russ is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing*.
His hobbies include trail running, triathlons, piano and hanging out with people who know much more about finance and technology than he does.
*Chartered Marketer status is the mark of an up-to-date, experienced and qualified marketing professional. It is the marketing industry’s highest accolade and is awarded exclusively by The Chartered Institute of Marketing in recognition of outstanding practical experience and expertise.
Testimonials
“Russ has worked with me on a number of both marketing and PR projects over the past 5 years, and has always done a fantastic job. I have happily recommended Russ’ services to a number of companies over the years, without any hesitation at all, and will continue to do so over the foreseeable future.”
Dean Brown, Partner, Ernst & Young
“Russ and his team have significantly boosted our marketing activities and international branding. They produce excellent research and copy for opinion pieces, case studies and press releases, as well collating multiple topics to support our regular corporate newsletters. Content is professionally produced and Russ is always keen to ensure the best quality for all of our marketing output.
A key strength of Russ and his team is domain knowledge; they understand the investment management industry and software solutions, and can produce views, opinions and creative ideas accordingly.
This team have recently created our new website, supporting the production of a significant amount of new and updated content, with major improvements to the user experience when visiting our site.
Russ is a pleasure to work with; he is always positive and I would not hesitate to recommend him and his team.”
Bruce Hobson, Chief Executive Officer, corfinancial
“I have worked with Russ and Portfolio Marketing Communications at three organisations over the years. At StatPro Group PLC they ran our public relations function, at GateStreet and Infovest, creating collateral and website copy. The reason for this repeated business across multiple organisations is that Russ and the team have an excellent understanding of our industry, meaning that we never had to start at square one when embarking on a new project. Russ is super-diligent and always takes the time to really delve in and identify the key marketing messages that need to be conveyed. At GateStreet and Infovest we had a number of marketing strategy days where Russ was really able to extract the best from the team in one or two sessions. The result was enjoyable interactions that resulted in great output!”
Simon Johns, former Chief Operating Officer, StatPro Group
“Russ did a tremendous job for HedgeStart Partners LLP as we reviewed our marketing strategy, both with his creative thought and excellent writing skills. Our business has since been acquired, but I would not hesitate to use Portfolio Marketing Communications again, or to recommend the service to others.”
Richard Jobling, former Partner, HedgeStart
“Working with Russ we undertook a full review of our positioning, sales strategy and value proposition for the Wealth Intelligence platform. He used a proven methodology to assemble our disparate thoughts and provide a summary of recommendations and strategy for us. Russ’s experience in our target market made it easy to work with him as he understood the challenges that we face as they compare with those of our peers.”
Kean Williams, Chief Executive Officer, Contemi Europe
“Portfolio has really helped up with our thought leadership and brand awareness in the investment management industry. Russ understands the domain very well and this really pays dividends, as he can create content and come up with ideas – not just disseminate my own thoughts. He is also well connected in the industry and goes ‘beyond the brief’ to assist clients in whatever way he can.”
Abbey Shasore, Chief Executive Officer, Factbook
“Russ and his team managed our PR and social media for a number of years and they significantly increased our brand awareness in the UK. Through a combination of well written press releases, carefully crafted thought leadership and insightful case studies they achieved impressive media exposure for Teknometry, including a landmark media feature with Waters Technology on our relationship with Royal London Asset Management. On his suggestion, Russ also created our entry for the Funds Europe Awards 2014, where we won a Special Commendation in the ‘European Middle Office Provider’ category.”
Mick Brant, Founder, Teknometry
“Russ has delivered many benefits to the AMFINE business. Before even getting to the creation of marketing collateral, Russ ran a number of workshops to firstly get universal agreement on the company USP’s, core product strengths over competitors, the image it wanted to convey and agreement on our overall strategy. From there Russ assisted us in bringing consistency to our marketing message, developed a marketing strategy and created excellent marketing collateral that all fed from a messaging guide.
In addition (and Russ’ core strength) is that from high level briefings he is able to create excellent market content, blogs and thought leadership which act as a great lead generation tool.
Prior to AMFINE, I also worked with Russ at Vermilion Software who became a marketing leading client reporting and communication software platform for financial services firms. Russ revamped our brand image, greatly increased brand awareness across EMEA (and globally) and made a number of submissions that resulted in 12 major industry awards.
All of which contributed hugely to the growth of the business and the successful sale to Factset Research Systems in November 2016.”
Paul Smillie, former CEO, AMFINE Services & Software
“Russ joined Vermilion at a critical time for the company, in the run-up to a trade sale. He quickly made an impact, winning three major industry awards in his first three months, as part of his brand awareness drive. His team also built a new website, for which he wrote all the copy, and delivered an excellent corporate video, which Russ scripted, storyboarded and produced.
Russ revamped all of our marketing collateral, going from two basic factsheets to over 30 case studies, factsheets and business-driven information sheets, in multiple languages. He also grew our brand awareness significantly in the USA and Asia, through PR, exhibitions and thought leadership.
In total, Russ won 12 major industry awards for Vermilion in three years, in Europe, the USA and Asia – in some cases breaking records. He can work at a strategic level very comfortably, but can also roll his sleeves up and get the basics done very well. Strong domain knowledge and excellent writing skills are key features of his work.”
Stuart Mitchell, Corporate Finance, Quest Corporate
“Portfolio has been an invaluable partner for Vermilion over the past three years. Russ and his team have all the domain experience we required to deliver all of our company’s marketing requirements, from copy, design and award submissions right through to social media.”
Simon Cornwell, former Global Sales & Marketing Director, Vermilion Software
“Working with Russ was an absolute pleasure. Smiling certainly comes very high on his list of strong attributes. His ability to listen and translate something into a work of art is very special. Would never hesitate to work with Russ in the future and he will constantly be in the portfolio.”
Paul Bebber, Regional Sales Manager, Advent Software
“I have had the pleasure to work with Russ and his team over several years. They have always provided insightful, relevant and positive contributions to our discussions and helped us develop key go to market strategies.”
Graeme Condie, former Sales Director, DST Global Solutions
“We have used Russ and his team for a number of years in creating our brand identity and our websites. Last year, our partnership was put to the test when we had to to reposition our firm rapidly following a strategic acquisition. This required reimagining our websites. and creating other market facing elements of our business. Russ and his group provided fantastic insights, skills and support in pulling this off in a very short period of time. We highly value our partnership with Russ.”
Debashis Sen, Director, Epsilon Technologies Group
“I have known Russ for a number of years and have used his services at two companies where I have worked. He is industrious, ethical and knowledgeable – truly a consummate professional.”
Anthony Howland, Independent Consultant and former Chairman of Performa
“Russ and his team managed our PR at Rhyme Systems. He understands the wealth management software industry well and as a result can create excellent, original content. This saves a lot of time for clients like us!
In addition to being a pleasure to work with, Russ and his team always delivered to the brief and also provided real sector insight and a professional approach.”
Piers Farbrother, former Sales Manager, Rhyme Systems
“When I was first introduced to Russ we were in desperate need of a marketing makeover that could be achieved within a tight budget. Russ has since been instrumental in re-branding the company to co-comply, and has helped raise the profile of the firm through targeted marketing and PR work. Although the budget was small, the quality of the work and the impact it has had is truly remarkable.”
Chris Kaye, former Director, co-comply
“I would like to thank Fabienne and Russ for their fantastic work. Their approach of research and interviews with the team here resulted in deliverables that exceeded our expectations. It is a pleasure to work with an organisation who can relate to our domain and articulate our thoughts and points of view without the need for a relatively large amount of input and time from us. Great job guys and many thanks.”
Ian Hallam, former CEO, 3i Infotech (Objectway)
“Russ and his team at PMC have been integral to our marketing efforts. They have designed and built Orchestrade’s website, written content for and designed white papers and case studies, designed exhibition collateral, produced adverts and animated videos and helped us with our social media presence. Throughout this diverse activity, the team have always been very responsive and demonstrated a deep understanding of our business. They are also nice guys to work with.”
Gordon Chan, VP, Orchestrade Financial Systems
“Russ was a seamless addition to our team at Citisoft, adding value throughout his lengthy time by helping us deliver new client relationships alongside existing ones, and gaining access to publications and other media outlets. Highly recommended.”
Cosmo Wisniewski, former Director, Citisoft
“I have worked with Russ on several projects and would thoroughly recommend his work. He combines his strong marketing skills with enthusiasm and strong domain understanding, and constantly exceeds expectations. Russ also processes excellent interpersonal skills and fits into any project environment seamlessly.”
Steve Young, former Managing Partner, Citisoft
“Thanks very much for all the help, support and input PMC has provided MAIA Technology. The quality of work, commitment and relationship between our companies has been excellent. The team has delivered in every area of our marketing in which we engaged and has helped us improve our messaging and collateral immensely. Highly recommended.”
Mark Veevers, CEO, MAIA Technology
“For those looking for a partner with: domain knowledge; creative flair delivered to a brief; and a commendable work ethic I can highly recommend Russ. He is an extremely approachable, convivial individual with great ideas, and once briefed is on the case. On the several occasions that I have worked with Russ he delivered against the above, every time.”
Daniel Carpenter, Head of Sales & Marketing, Meritsoft & GBST
“I became aware of Russ through his writing ability, reading his interesting analyses of the fintech world. He has written some excellent papers for us along with arranging media briefings etc. He is very knowledgeable about the fintech industry and his key strength is making complex processes and concepts both accessible and engaging.”
Mark Shead, Head of RegTech Solutions UK, BearingPoint Software Solutions
“Russ was recommended to me by a major consulting firm that his company worked for. Portfolio did an excellent job, rewriting and redesigning our website. It’s important to partner with marketing professionals like this that understand our business and the clients we serve. Russ is also a very enjoyable person to work with and I always appreciated our post-meeting pint!”
Nigel Pickering, Founder, 1View Solutions
“We have recently redesigned our website using Portfolio and we are delighted with the result. They totally understood our business and the various challenges of how we present that to potential clients. They presented straightforward and innovative design ideas and were able to deliver the final product to our requirements within budget and timescale.”
Neil Herbert, Director, HRComply
“I have enjoyed working with Russ and Portfolio Marketing Communications on several different initiatives while heading up global marketing activities for SimCorp Coric.
When an urgent requirement arose to outsource some key blogs to support a specific campaign, Russ was the name consistently recommended to me by my industry contacts.
Over two years, Russ produced several high-quality blogs for us. Furthermore, as our working relationship expanded, he provided ideas on proposed topics for new content and offered invaluable knowledge, advice and input on other global campaigns.
Russ’s deep domain knowledge and understanding, not only of the client reporting and communication space but also the broader investment operations and tech value chain in which the function sits, sets him apart from other partners I have previously worked with in this space.
I would highly recommend working with Russ on any potential activities – not only can you be assured that you will receive high-quality work for any project undertaken, but also you choose a true business partner who can provide invaluable input and add real tangible value to your marketing activities. He’s also a great guy too, which helps!”
Iain Smith, Former Global Marketing Principal, SimCorp Coric