Fund Communication Guidance

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The FCA has repeatedly raised the issues of jargon and poor communication as challenges for the industry. This was called out strongly in the Asset Management Market Study, but under Consumer Duty ‘consumer understanding’ has become one of the four outcomes that firms have to demonstrate they are meeting.

Firms are expected to write in a way that ‘is reasonably likely to be understood’ by their intended audience and that information facilitates customers’ decision making. This is a critical regulatory issue and one that every firm should be tackling. Consumer Duty replaced RPPD and is embedded in the Senior Managers’ Compliance regime.

This course seeks to help firms understand how customers approach fund communications, to highlight problematic jargon and to help firms think about how they might improve what they write for customers. The course builds on the fund communications guidance originally published by the Investment Association in February 2019 alongside more recent research into broader consumer understanding challenges.

On the course we will cover the regulatory context and take an in-depth look at consumer attitudes to communication. Other topics will include a high level look at the information that investors look for when investing; consumer understanding around data and performance charts; and considerations for making communications more accessible.

Key learning objectives:

• Understand the regulatory context for the focus on clear communication
• Gain insight in to what constitutes jargon from a customer perspective
• Consider how customers consume fund information from the industry and the barriers to understanding

09:30 Understanding the regulatory backdrop and the link between product governance, clearer customer communication and culture
Introductions and learning objectives

• Regulatory landscape and direction of travel
• RPPD, PROD, MiFID II, AMMS Remedies
• New Consumer Duty

10:00 Background to the IA’s fund communications guidance

• How and why the guidance was created.
• IA Investor Communication Working Group
• Helping firms to build a framework for talking to customers
• How to use the guidance within your organisation

10:15 Customer insights in to the industry and its language

• The language of saving and investing
• Towards greater clarity in objectives, investment policy, fund characteristics
• Challenges around industry terminology and the need to write for the ‘customer first’

11:00 Tea/Coffee Break

11:30 Information needs of customers and helping them to understand your fund (including a look at factsheets)

• What factors do customers take into account when researching investment funds?
• What information is helpful both pre and post investment?
• What are the barriers to understanding when presenting data to customers?

12:00 Moving the dial on customer understanding

• What governance sits around your content?
• Think about who is generating content and how?
• Who are the gatekeepers in the firm? How familiar are they with your customers and their needs?
• Can you change your company’s mindset?

12:15 Q&A

12:30 Close

Dawn Hyams
Dawn Hyams is a senior consultant to The Wisdom Council, working with clients across the wealth and asset management sector to embed customer engagement into business strategy and the product life cycle. With a particular focus on product governance and investor insight, Dawn talks to retail and professional investors on a regular basis about all things saving and investing. Dawn sat on the FCA’s Fund Objectives Working Group representing the voice of the consumer and leads TWC’s work with the Investment Association. 

This training course is run under the Chatham House Rule, for reference please see here

Anyone who has responsibility for fund or investor communications including those with roles in Marketing, Marketing Compliance, Investment Communications, Client Services, Fund Governance.

IA Member £395.00 +VAT
Non-Member £545.00 +VAT

Pay using a credit card online, or if you wish to be invoiced please email your full details to: Training@theia.org

PLEASE NOTE: Full payment for the course must be made prior to the course commencement date.

• Any cancellation must be made in writing.
• For all cancellation received 15-30 days prior to the course start date, 50% of the course fee is still payable.
• No refund is given for a cancellation made 14 days or less prior to the commencement of a course.
• Transferring from one course to another is treated as a cancellation.
• You can substitute one delegate for another at no additional cost. In this instance, please give two business days’ notice.

Hybrid Training Courses:

We will continue to monitor and follow government guidance regarding coronavirus (Covid-19) to ensure the safety of our team and our members. Please be advised some training courses could change from hybrid delivery (being held in-person and virtually) to solely virtual delivery, should government guidance require.

There are a limited number of in-person spaces available on this course and this will be allocated on a first come first served basis.