2024’s Top Ten Trends in Private Equity and Investment Banking Website Design

A private equity, mezzanine capital or M&A firm’s website plays a critical role in its success. It serves as a platform to effectively communicate the organization’s story, reinforce its brand, and attract new business opportunities.

Take inspiration from these 2023 MVP private capital, custom-tailored award-winners including such PE sites as Gallant Capital (Los Angeles), Beedie Capital (Vancouver) and Havencrest (Dallas) and I-bank RA Capital (San Diego). Likewise, we’ll also describe our new, creative and cost-effective MVP TeamPlate℠ WordPress website platform as reflected in such sites as PE firm Gemini Investors (Boston) and Woodward Park Partners (Detroit).

All sites featured in this Website Design 2024 Top Ten Trends in Private Equity and Investment Bank Website Design showcase crucial design elements such as eye-catching graphics, attention-getting videos, efficient navigation, filterable content, and more reflecting our latest research into contemporary private equity and investment bank website design.

Here then are our top 10 private equity and investment bank website design and development trends, based on our analysis of thousands of private capital websites that we’ve reviewed during the needs analysis phase of the more than 15 PE and investment banking firm engagements we undertook in 2023:

1. More with Less – A clean, minimalist look with ample “white space” is increasingly sought after by private equity firms and investment banks alike. Our I-bank site for RA Capital (Los Angeles), a 2023 Marcom Gold Award winner, exemplifies this trend.
2. Home Page and Testimonial Videos – Video is in, as you can see in the subtle mist rolling in across an idyllic Minnesota lake on Minneapolis-based PE firm Shoreview’s new site or the vibrant multi-segment nighttime flyer over of  Healthcare-focused PE firm Havencrest (Dallas)—and not just for the homepage as you’ll watch on Shoreview’s Testimonials page too. Visit MVP’s Video landing Page to learn more about this growing “point and click” trend, which also includes MVP’s Remote Video technique for producing high-quality, lower cost (no crew travel-expense required) portco CEO and deal team member videos.
3. Bold Typography – Whether in the form of a sans serif typeface as in the case of our new private equity healthcare website for Havencrest or serifed like our new I-bank site for Woodward Park (Bloomfield Hills, MI), prominent typography that can’t be missed is on-trend.
4. Animation – Motion graphic animations continued strong in 2024 and can be observed on such  award-winning MVP websites as PE firm Gallant Capital (Los Angeles), a Marcom Gold Award winner, and Beedie Capital (Vancouver), a Hermes Gold Award winner. These eye-catching design enhancements help to keep viewer eyes glued to your site as opposed to straying elsewhere.
5. Innovative Portfolio Company Display – Along with other elements that help minimize scrolling, discover the new condensed accordion fold approach we took to quickly reveal portco essentials on such sites as Havencrest, Gallant and Shoreview.
6. Podcasts Go Back to the Future – For busy management team members and entrepreneurs on the go, podcasts are growing in popularity as ways to boost user engagement and dwell time on a website. Look to the Podcast page of our ShoreView website that teaches visitors about what it’s like to partner with a private equity firm.
7. Wow Photography – As your introduction to the world, your website needs to transcend the ordinary to become extraordinary. Customized photography that turns your web space into a showplace is best accomplished through PhotoShop effects that offer a bespoke look unique to your brand personality. View the way in which we brought PE Healthcare specialist Havencrest to life through retouched stock photography that conveys “first impression buzz.”
8. Words at Work– Captivate audiences with brand messaging that resonates with your target audience. For example, our site for Beedie Capital, Vancouver, a multi-strategy direct investment platform for Canada’s largest family office, featured not only MVP design but branding reflected in its MVP BrandMate℠ derived “Institutional DNA. Entrepreneurial DNA.” tagline and site copy.
9. Increasing Use of WordPress Themes and Templates – As an alternative to fully custom-tailored website design, MVP is seeing digital agencies and design firms making increased use of such WordPress themes as WebFlow and Elementor. Unlike the established SaaS-based offerings of Wix, Weebly and SquareSpace, in which case you effectively rent but do not own the underlying platform, these late entry WordPress plug-ins offer a cost-effective alternative for budget constrained private capital firms seeking a respectable alternative to more costly bespoke designs. While based on the WordPress platform, these extensions have limitations when it comes to their content management system flexibility and ease-of-use. In response, MVP has pioneered its own trend-setting Blue Ocean strategy through our highly popular MVP TeamPlate℠ WordPress website offering. Introduced in 2020, new 2023 MVP TeamPlate sites like PE firm Gemini Investors (Boston) and Investment Bank Woodward Park Partners (Detroit), have joined the ranks of 15 other similar ones across the country. Whether you firm may be a start-up or mature, MVP TeamPlate websites are custom designed but share a similar design and development framework for “curb appeal,” expedited time-to-market and lower cost. The MVP TeamPlate℠ WordPress website model appeals to any Private Capital firm, large or small, seeking custom quality for less.
10. From AI to ADA – 2024 promises to see website design firms, creative and digital agencies increase their use of AI when it comes to design, coding and content development. While it is beyond the scope of this post to delve into this trend-setting topic, MVP has written an extensive blog post describing how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing Private Equity and M&A advisory firm website design, development and branding. Please click here to view it. And while we’re not yet seeing a significant call for ADA compliance on the part of either private equity sponsor sites or those for investment banks, we are experiencing demand for forward looking PE firms to make their portfolio company sites ADA compliant. Please view our very recent site and case history for WePackItAll. This LA-based Health & Wellness private equity custom filling and co-packing Akoya Capital (Chicago) portco, packs in the best of WCAG 2.2-compliant form and functionality, according to recommended ADA website disability guidelines.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this review of 2024 trends in Private Equity and Investment Bank website site design and look forward to hearing from you! Have a question? Reach out to us at info@mvpdesign.com. As we like to say at MVP, “We look good when you look great!” Trust our MVP Marketing + Design to make your business and brand “invaluable.”