On the sales side of the business, we come with a deep well of knowledge from which to draw, not only on what we are doing but how it works over various scenarios. We avoid going too far in the "data dump" direction by understanding each aspect of our process in a conceptual way. With a conceptual approach you are able to synthesize answers and information through analogies and comparisons, underscoring points with good solid evidence available from our enormous research effort.

I also field the client and consultant requests, the "you want it, we can do it" part of the team. One of the best things about that role is being close to the investment team and seeing the information. We can have an immediate conversation to extract something that's meaningful to the client or for a prospect call. There's always a piece of data to answer every question, so it's just a matter of making sure you're constantly aware and then the answers become easy.

Client requests are great, the equivalent of real-time market research. They give us exposure to the prevailing questions and the opportunity to demonstrate our skill. We're fortunate enough to have some really analytical clients. Sometimes we go beyond their request to take it to the next level of information, giving them an interpretation or setting the information in a historical time frame. That's a lot of fun.