Simple, smart, not stupid

Imagine this…

You’re pitching a fund that does something genuinely clever.

Multi-asset, dynamic risk overlays with algorithmic rebalancing.

You know, the kind of super-smart strategy that makes your peers nod approvingly.

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And the client?

They’re nodding too. But in that polite, confused way people do when they’ve mentally checked out.

This is the problem I see so often with financial communication.

We mistake complexity for credibility.

The truth of the matter is that if someone doesn’t understand it, they don’t trust it.

And if they don’t trust it, they won’t buy it. It really doesn’t matter how ‘sophisticated’ your product sounds.

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Psychology backs this up.

There’s something called the “fluency heuristic”. It basically means that the easier something is to understand, the more trustworthy and appealing it feels.

A 2006 Princeton study found that people rated stocks with easier to pronounce ticker symbols, like ELY or MUF, as more investable than ones you can’t say so easily, like MRX or GMD.

Just let that sink in.

Fundamentals? Nah.

Technical insight? No thanks.

Can I say the stock ticker symbol? Shut up and take my money!

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This is the power of fluency.

Not simplification for its own sake, but clarity that enhances persuasion.

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The thing is, there’s still a lot of fear in financial marketing.

“If we simplify this, won’t we sound… dumb?”

You’ll only run the risk of sounding stupid if you take the wrong approach. You see, good simplification is about elevation, not dilution.

It removes noise and leaves meaning.

It’s the difference between:

“Our automated liquidity allocation engine dynamically optimises overnight exposures across a multi-custodian framework.”

versus:

“We put every dollar of idle cash to work, overnight.”

Same outcome. Different effect.

So, simplification done well amplifies intelligence. It shows that you understand your audience, not just your product. It creates access without being patronising. And it earns attention because it feels so much more human, rather than manufactured in a product committee!

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So many of my clients have told me:

“We need to keep this language professional.”

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And I normally reply:

“Yes, but we also need to make it memorable.”

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Because, smart isn’t the opposite of simple.

The opposite of simple is… forgettable.

Speak soon

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