CIFC Case Study | Peregrine Communications

Overview

Objective

Raise measurable brand awareness for CIFC's Direct Lending strategy among institutional allocators and RIAs across North America.
Drive high-quality website traffic and engagement through LinkedIn (paid and organic), Google Search Ads (SEA) and earned media engagement.
Reach senior investment decision-makers - including Financial Advisors, Portfolio Managers, CIOs, and Managing Directors - with targeted digital content.
Demonstrate CIFC's differentiated position in direct lending through compelling video content, thought leadership, deal case studies and earned third-party validation that reinforces the firm’s credit-first approach.

Approach

The campaign deployed a fully integrated strategy across paid LinkedIn, organic LinkedIn, and Google Search Ads (SEA).

Paid LinkedIn served as the primary awareness driver, combining video content with sponsored posts to reach over 64,000 relevant decision-makers. Organic LinkedIn complemented this with high-quality editorial content that drove exceptional engagement. SEA captured high-intent search traffic from investors and RIAs actively researching direct lending opportunities.

Earned media relations, and third-party engagement further amplified executive visibility and brand building.

Outcomes

AWARENESS

95,120 total impressions across all channels
17,989 video views (CPV: $0.20 via LinkedIn)
64,852 paid LinkedIn impressions (2.4x organic reach)

ENGAGEMENT

3,170 total engagements
2,131 total clicks (CTR 6.24% organic; 0.43% paid)
8.41% organic engagement rate vs. 2.3% industry benchmark

EFFICIENCY

SEA CPC - highly cost-efficient click acquisition
Branded keyword CTR of 29.17% - strong brand recognition in-market

AUDIENCE QUALITY

The campaign reached and engaged a select audience of investment decision makers, institutional treasury and capital allocators, and wealth intermediaries

Institutional allocators and wealth managers are actively seeking experienced direct lending partners with deep middle market expertise, a track record of sponsor relationships and a credit-first investment philosophy grounded in rigorous fundamental analysis, disciplined underwriting, and downside protection.

Against a backdrop of increasing competition in private credit, the campaign needed to educate the market on CIFC's specific strengths and differentiate the firm. All campaign activations were built around three core messages:

CIFC's deep expertise in the lower and core middle market, with a disciplined, relationship-driven approach to direct lending.
A strong track record built on sponsor relationships - as illustrated by deal-specific content featuring portfolio companies such as Western Smokehouse; reinforced by CIFC’s emphasis on underwriting every opportunityies through a fundamental, name-by-name credit lens.
CIFC's three pillars of direct lending: rigorous credit analysis, strong origination capabilities, and alignment with borrowers and sponsors with its approach designed to identify idiosyncratic opportunities while maintaining disciplined risk management.

Collectively, honing in on a centralized corporate messaging platform allowed CIFC Direct Lending to frame itself as not simply as another private credit offering, but as an extension of CIFC’s broader identity as a credit-first global alternative investment manager focused on fundamental analysis, disciplined underwriting, and resilient performance across market cycles.

Content was designed to work across the funnel: video (featuring the CIFC direct lending team) built familiarity, carousel posts and white papers educated the audience on strategy, and keyword-optimized search ads captured demand from investors/RIAs already in-market.

CIFC carousel 1

CIFC carousel 2

CIFC carousel 3

CIFC carousel 4

CIFC carousel 5

Paid vs. Organic LinkedIn vs. SEA

Paid LinkedIn

Paid LinkedIn was the dominant awareness channel, generating over 2.4x the impressions of organic. However, organic content outperformed on engagement rate, with an 8.41% engagement rate and a 6.24% CTR - well above industry benchmarks of 2.3% and 1.2%, respectively.

95,120

Total Impressions

3,170

Total Engagements

17,989

Video Views

2,131

Total Website Clicks

Organic LinkedIn

Organic LinkedIn significantly outperformed industry benchmarks, with an 8.41% engagement rate (vs. 2.3% benchmark) and a 6.24% CTR (vs. 1.2% benchmark). Of 2,247 total engagements, 74% were active clicks, a strong indicator that content was driving genuine audience intent rather than passive interaction.

26,732

Impressions

8.41%

Engagement Rate (vs 2.3% benchmark)

6.24%

Click-Through Rate (vs 1.2% benchmark)

6,983

Video Views