Where's the ICI Fact Book When You Need It?

Could all of the educational efforts mutual funds and trade associations like the ICI have put into educating the public on mutual funds be insufficient?

You could certainly wish for more funding for education after viewing CNBC's squawk box confusion over the difference between stocks and derivatives.

Before stepping into a recent Senate Finance Committee vote, Barney Frank was interviewed by a CNBC trio about the merits of letting shareholders set pay limits for TARP Fund recipients. The first dude came back with an off-handed statement about just letting the board of directors and senior executives of a TARP company sort things out.

Why get the shareholders involved? According to the ICI Fact Book, a shareholder is "An investor who owns shares of a mutual fund or other company." Barney had to remind the fellow that shareholders are, literally, owners of a company; and, as such, are obligated to play a role in corporate governance.

The best was saved for last, when a squawk-boxer, said to Barney, "It seems to me that you’re dealing with a model (shareholder voting) that no longer works. We don’t have mom and pop sitting at home holding these shares. These shares are primarily in mutual funds and the ownership is a derivative instrument."

Of course, without broad-based common stock shareholder participation, a good chunk of the equity markets -- and still another $12 trillion -- can vanish over night. Well, even if mom and pop are sitting at homing holding the shares, they still have ownership rights; even if they own shares of mutual funds only, they have the right to pressure the Fund board on matters of equity investment policy. This right, ensures, for example, that company selections have robust shareholder participation on stuff like, I don't know, executive comp.

"These shares" confuses traditional equity investing with credit default swaps, options, and other derivatives. Whether it goes up or down, a stock is a real, tangible asset -- unlike the derivative.

Squawkbox, heal theyself. You can download your free copy of the ICI Fact Book here.

Branding for the bottom line

Let that logo live again

Many entrepeneurs find that the logo they first developed when they were starting out doesn't look as good today. That familiar icon invokes its power still to tug at the memory and the heart. It symbolizes a time and place, a genesis and journey from an idea to an enterprise that symbolizes the firm's success. Besides, that logo is still on all of the stationery.

What can be done? Answer: try refreshing that logo. In marketing, repairing what's worn down just makes good business sense.

Here's how the logomark of Circadian Technologies found new life. Design director Kip Haggett, kip.haggett@verizon.net, recognized that the corporate symbol of the clock and the silhouette had gained recognition in its industry, shiftwork consulting. There were details in its design structure however that hindered its ability to be produced in many of the demanding communications applications that evolved over time. When reduced in size, for example, the white lines filled in with blue.

Just like an old car, an old logo needs to be taken apart piece by piece now and then. This way Kip addressed the key elements of the symbol.

He watched carefully not to eliminate the details that contributed to the industry's recall of the logomark. He evaluated what worked -- and what didn't. We both liked the fact that a subliminal "C" for Circadian was starting to emerge. In any corporate identity, the typeface in the corporate logo not only needs to be strong and recognizable, but easy to use. It also needs to comfortably link with the mark it partners with. Since the mark was round, Kip chose Avenir, a typeface that resonated with the look. In this example, the "C" compares in height to the human figure.

However, removing part of the mark creates a bridge with the corporate name. While the capital letters emphasize the strength of the corporation, the client opted for an upper and lower case version that kept the emphasis on the human scale. Here is the final version combined with the tagline: A refreshed logo that could be used as one integrated image, as well as a set of independent images of the clock, the name and the tagline.

Branding for the bottom line in this case took a good albeit tired logo and made it better and vital. Faster, cheaper and better is the mantra for entrepreneurs today and every day, who by necessity and common sense must find imaginative ways to do more with less.