Wow! Some investment content can be readable.
David Butcher
M.Phil. FRSA. I help organisations become more successful through better communications
Who knew??
My tongue is in my cheek of course.
When smart investment professionals write about what they think and do, sometimes it’s easy to read, sometimes it isn’t.
Over the years we’ve measured and documented just how bad this material can get. Too many complex words. Sludgy sentences with twice as many words as the national average. Articles that are 137% of the length of media articles that say the same thing.
And the problem isn’t going away.
Readability scores of investment content published by award-winning companies remain stubbornly high – in unreadable territory – and they’re usually closer to complex academic papers than the financial media.
But here’s some praise for this beleaguered sector.
And its name is Ranmore Fund Management Ltd .
If the Brexit withdrawal agreement nearly broke the readability checker back in 2020, Ranmore’s 2024 material had it purring with delight.
In fact, their content is the most readable material we have ever assessed.
Why? They use short words and short sentences. They think about what they’re trying to say. They balance elegance and economy in a way that differentiates them from the rest of the sector.
Moreover, we challenge even the busiest, most fatigued reader to miss the Ranmore authors’ key points in the sample we assessed: Nvidia looks overvalued, sustainable growth rates are not all that, and poor prospects for Disney.
They should be congratulated for making such an impact and being genuinely different.
Our 2024 Readability Report universe this year comprised content from 28 award-winning investment management firms. You can find out who came where by looking for the company scores in our report. Check the link in the comments.
And if you’d like your communications to be more readable, please get in touch.
Managing Director at Four Communications
2 周Great work as ever Butch
Writer, editor, translator
3 周Well done, David. It's great to have all this carefully researched data to back up what we instinctively know: investment content needs to be more readable.
Founder and Director of Accsum Ltd, providing specialist market research services
3 周Would be fun to run this analysis on UK tax policy and HMRC....
Investment manager of equity UCITS fund. (Global, unconstrained) I invest in quoted owner-managed companies when Mr Market hates them!(think Meta, Frasers or Netflix)
3 周Can I submit my investment letters to be assessed for readability…? It’s something I care about. Like others commenting here I’m inspired by Buffett/ Munger to communicate as if say my Mum was reading it. Here’s an example. https://hollandadvisors.co.uk/2024/06/17/jun-2024-owner-manager-traits/
Ranmore Global Equity Fund Portfolio Manager | Value investor | Long Only | #numbersnotnarrative | Not Advice | Do your own work
3 周Thank you David Butcher ! Ranmore Fund Management Ltd is delighted to be included in the Readability Report. Warren Buffett and the late Charlie Munger have made finance relatable because they used simple language to explain financial concepts so if we want to engage with our target market, we need to learn from these gurus. Thanks also to Scott Keyser for showing me the way