Making a Solid Investment in the Future
WP Engine Agency Partner Chillybin was engaged by Fullerton Fund Management in 2021 for a fresh website that reaches a growing audience of savvy investors.
Industry: Financial Services
Site: fullertonfund.com | Chillybin.com.sg
Challenge: Create an intuitive web experience with unique content for clients across the Asia-Pacific region and broader international market while improving page speed, security, and the ability for Fullerton Fund Management’s financial experts to easily post timely market data and insights.
Solution: Chillybin leveraged WP Engine’s enterprise WordPress platform and WordPress Multisite functionality as part of its redesign. The agency also implemented a custom child theme powered by the Genesis Framework that uses simple page builders for a user-friendly back-end experience.
Results: A cleaner front-end with a clear content hierarchy has created a better user experience for Fullerton’s clients. Fullerton’s team is able to easily publish timely content and market insights without issue, and the new site is generating higher engagement and conversions.
Fullerton Fund Management is an investment firm providing equities, fixed income, and alternatives investment management services to corporate and municipal bodies worldwide. The firm was founded in 2003 and is currently headquartered in Singapore with additional offices in Shanghai, London, and Brunei.
Chillybin is a Singapore-based digital agency and WP Engine Agency Partner. The agency’s team of marketers and developers has more than 10 years of experience in WordPress website design, development, and maintenance as well as SEO, digital marketing, and eCommerce solutions.
“We have the UX and custom development expertise unique clients like Fullerton often require. Paired with WP Engine's enterprise-grade hosting infrastructure, security, and support, we knew we could get it done.”
—Shaan Nicol, Director, Chillybin
Enhancing the Investor Experience Online
Fullerton Fund Management is an investment firm that’s committed to delivering an enhanced investor experience. Focused on optimizing investment outcomes to suit the unique needs of its clients, Fullerton has continued to grow since it was incorporated in 2003, offering a wide range of investment solutions while also providing investment insights, performance, and risk management.
To ensure its enhanced investor experience was translating to its digital footprint, Fullerton approached Singapore-based digital agency Chillybin in 2021 for assistance with its website.
“There were key pain points the Fullerton team wanted to target,” said Shaan Nicol, Director at Chillybin.
“They wanted the ability to provide timely updates on investment insights, market trends, and recommendations on funds and strategies, and they wanted to find that differentiating factor that would set them apart while showcasing their thought leadership and expertise.”
On one hand, the existing Fullerton site required UX improvements and optimizations that would help with page speed and navigation.
On the other hand, Fullerton’s team required a back-end experience that would allow them to quickly and easily produce and segment timely financial information, serving distinct global audiences with the most appropriate content.
On top of those requirements, the Fullerton team needed a robust analytics integration, as well as assurances around security and compliance that would provide peace of mind to its clients and internal teams.
“We have the UX and custom development expertise clients like Fullerton require,” Nicol said. “Paired with WP Engine's enterprise-grade hosting infrastructure, security, and support, we knew we could get it done.”
Growing Digital Real Estate
Chillybin and its team of WordPress specialists began with a full redesign of the existing Fullerton site, maximizing digital real estate while making the site easy to navigate and, most importantly, mobile responsive.
One area where this was essential, was Fullerton’s listing of investment funds, which was streamlined to allow for the most important information to be quickly and easily accessed.
The charting, sorting, and filtering capabilities of the information were also upgraded with each fund kept up-to-date using the latest financial data from Bloomberg. Chillybin added functionality to the Fullerton site that allows the firm to receive data for each of its funds in CSV format and then run a task using the WP All Import plugin that updates all of the daily financial data and archives the file.
Another key area of focus was creating a WordPress Multisite network that would allow for the creation of location-based content, microsites, and landing pages for new campaigns.
“With our top designers and developers on the project, we delivered a custom, responsive, retina-ready, HTML5 WordPress child theme powered by the Genesis Framework and built with Beaver Builder that meets current best practice web standards,” Nicol said.
In addition to the design and development work, the site was migrated to WP Engine’s enterprise WordPress hosting platform, providing sitewide performance and security improvements.
“We were able to focus on the work we do best—website design—while WP Engine took care of infrastructure, speed, SOC-2 compliant security, and premium support, all with the flexibility of WordPress,” Nicol said.
“The end result met all of the project requirements—the new site has provided Fullerton with the fast, secure digital footprint they needed, and it’s added agility to the firm’s internal workflows.”
The Results
Since launching the new site, Fullerton has seen improvements in engagement and client satisfaction tied directly to UX enhancements and faster page speeds. Those improvements include:
- 18% increase in users (17% new users)
- 39% increase in unique pageviews
- 32% increase in sessions
- 29% increase in time on page
- 53% increase in direct acquisitions
- 16% increase in organic acquisitions
Additionally, Fullerton has seen a 53% increase in direct acquisitions as well as a 16% increase in organic acquisitions through the site.
“Engagement with the site has been exceptional since the relaunch,” Nicol said. “We’ve seen higher pageviews, higher conversions, and we’ve also been able to establish event tracking, which allows the Fullerton team to see how many people are clicking on and downloading certain reports as well as how they’re interacting with site search and filtering."
From a performance point of view, the site saw an immediate lift upon migration to WP Engine’s platform with average page load time, and server connection and response times all dropping.
Over the past year, average server connection time for the Fullerton site has decreased by more than 30% and average page download time has decreased by more than 36%, among other impressive site speed metrics.
Ultimately, Chillybin was able to provide its client with exactly what it needed, going beyond website design to offer a complete solution for site visitors and content creators alike.
“The Fullerton team needed an asset that builds trust, and positions them as the most insightful fund managers in Singapore, which they are,” Nicol said.
“That’s what we delivered, and with WP Engine backing it up, Fullerton was able to make a solid investment for the future.”