Forty years ago this month, a farsighted young man named Gilbert E. Kaplan launched this magazine to serve the interests of institutional investors, whose imminent rise to vast economic power he shrewdly envisioned. Much, of course, has changed since March 1967, but many of that era’s preoccupations persist: Our inaugural issue notably raised the question of whether hedge funds ought to be regulated. There were perhaps 100 such funds then, a far cry from today’s cast of thousands, whose aggressive activities have once again alarmed government officials.
In its early years Institutional Investor liked to advertise that “good financial journalism doesn’t have to be dull.” And that’s another thing that hasn’t changed: our commitment to in-depth reporting and analyses that inform and entertain.
Along the way, of course, we have modified our look and feel from time to time. With this issue, we introduce our most complete overhaul in years, a thorough revamping of the design and content of the magazine. Some changes are evolutionary, like our logo; others are revolutionary, like our new approach to pagination -- the line of numbers and content slugs running across the top of each page. In all cases, our goal is to enrich and enliven the experience of our readers by giving them a magazine that is cleaner, more creative and more capacious.
To that end, we are introducing new sections and recasting others. Underscoring their importance, our research and rankings will now have their own section (beginning this month on page 95); the new Opening section incorporates People, which previously led the book, and will be more topical. We have built a new Capital section to cover investment banks and the companies they serve; and we have expanded the Investing section, adding coverage of, among other things, alternative investments and wealth management. We will continue to provide readers the long-form features that have been a hallmark of this magazine from the beginning.
These decisions are the result of more than a year of introspection and hard work. The team leaders for the redesign, Assistant Managing Editor Justin Schack and Articles Editor Lila MacLellan, did a splendid job of canvassing a wide range of opinions and managing an often unwieldy process as well as an occasionally distracted editor.
The new look is the handiwork of Tom Brown, of Tom Brown Art & Design in Vancouver, Canada. A veteran of the New York magazine world who has won numerous national awards in the U.S. and Canada, Tom previously was involved in redesigning major titles including Men’s Journal, Field & Stream and Ski. We wanted a business magazine that would look like no other and yet remain firmly in the Institutional Investor tradition, and we think Tom, working with our new art director, Nathan Sinclair, has done just that. We hope you’ll agree.
