From Global Banking & Finance Review
Published: August, 2018
Asset management firms face surmounting problems.
As investors consolidate, there’s more competition for fewer clients. Legislative bodies are getting tougher on regulation and compliance, such as the MiFID and KIID directives. And, Edelman’s 2018 Trust Barometer charts the sharp erosion of trust in the financial services sector.
At the same time, few asset management firms are prioritizing the use of plain language in their communications. Yet plain language has a direct impact on all of the challenges asset management firms encounter.
Why does plain language matter?
Our recent analysis of the largest 69 asset management firms in the world highlighted that 98.5% of their websites don’t meet basic readability levels.
We compiled the research into our 2018 Asset Management Clarity Report and it’s available on our website.
The thesis behind the report is that people are time poor and need to get answers to questions quickly. Data also shows that people’s reading ages are lower than assumed. In the UK, the average reading age is below that of an 11 year old. In the USA, the average reading age is at 7th or 8th grade level. Even if people do have higher reading ages, technology has changed the way people read. Skim reading, especially online, is how many people now gather information.
