Many investment firms struggle when deciding what they should write about in their investor newsletters. These decisions can become particularly difficult when there are high-profile news events that are dominating headlines in the mainstream media.
As a financial writer who helps companies write their newsletters, I get a lot of questions from clients along the lines of, “Should we be writing about [insert trending, high-profile news item here] in our newsletter? I know our clients are hearing a lot about this, and it seems like we should have a point of view on it.”
Clients will bring up many different considerations when talking through these decisions, including: “We don’t want to look like we have our heads in the sand.” “We want to show that we are relevant.” “We don’t want to touch an issue that is too politicized or divisive.” “We don’t want to end up being wrong.” “We don’t want to ‘get outside of our lane’.” And the list goes on.
Given the number of considerations companies try to weigh, it’s no wonder that firms struggle when deciding whether to write about a high-profile and potentially controversial topic.
Rather than trying to balance all of those separate considerations, firms should narrow their thought-process and answer one main question: “Can we add value for our clients by writing about this topic?” If the answer is yes, the topic probably belongs in your newsletter. If the answer is no, leave it out.
Let’s apply this litmus test to a few recent topics that have been grabbing headlines lately.
Republicans’ efforts at tax reform
Overview: On September 27, Congressional Republicans and the White House unveiled a framework for their tax-reform proposal, which includes lowering the corporate tax rate to 20% and the rate for pass-through entities to 25%, increasing the standard deduction, and reducing the number of individual tax brackets. Undoubtedly your clients will be seeing many headlines about tax reform as the legislative process plays out over the next several (or more) months.
Does writing about it pass the value-add test? Regardless of which corner of the financial services industry you are in, tax reform will affect your clients. You can add value by using your newsletter to provide updates on the progress of the legislative process and, more importantly, by explaining how clients should adapt their strategies to account for potential changes. This information will be particularly relevant as we head into the final months of 2017 and clients start their year-end planning and their forecasting for 2018.
Potential pitfalls: One of the biggest challenges in writing about proposed legislation is uncertainty. Not only is there a great deal of uncertainty about whether (or when) a bill will ever be passed, there is uncertainty about what the actual rate and bracket changes will be. When writing about tax reform in your newsletter, you will need to find the right balance between explaining the potential impact while reminding readers that the final outcome is still very much in doubt.
The other big challenge when writing about anything related to politics is that the topic is inherently polarizing for many of your readers. It’s important to keep in mind that your job isn’t to pass judgment on what the policy should be. Rather your job is to explain what the policy is. For more tips on how to write about how events in Washington, D.C. are influencing the investment landscape, see our post How to Write About Politics (Without Alienating Half of Your Base).
Equifax security breach
Overview: In early September, credit-reporting agency Equifax announced that it had been the victim of a data breach that potentially compromised sensitive information for up to 143 million Americans. Equifax is offering 12 months of free credit monitoring for all Americans, but the company’s response has been widely criticized. On September 26, Equifax CEO Richard Smith resigned, joining other senior management.
Does writing about it pass the value-add test? If you are in the private wealth management or accounting industries, your clients count on you for financial advice. Even though you might not consider identity theft prevention as being within the scope of your services, your clients likely don’t make this distinction. The Equifax breach is a situation that absolutely could affect your clients’ personal finances, and many clients will be looking to you for guidance. By outlining the steps clients can take to see if their information was compromised and providing high-level guidance about ways they can monitor or freeze their credit, you can give your clients valuable piece of mind.
Potential pitfalls: You don’t want to be alarmist and cause your clients to panic unnecessarily. Even though the Equifax breach is perhaps the largest and highest-profile incident to date, there is a good chance that it is not the first time your clients’ information has been compromised and it likely won’t be the last. Be sure to focus on the facts and don’t claim to have all of the answers. Point your clients in the right direction and leave it at that.
NFL players’ national anthem protests:
Overview: In 2016, Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback at the time, began kneeling during the national anthem to protest what he believed to be systematic racial injustice in the United States. Other players have followed suit, prompting President Trump to harshly criticize these protests at a political rally and via Twitter. The president’s comments caused many athletes, celebrities, fans, and companies–both in the sports industry and outside of it–to share their thoughts on the controversy.
Does writing about it pass the value-add test? Even though it may seem like every person or company with a social media account has felt the need to weigh in on national anthem protests, the ways in which a financial services company can add value to their clients on this topic are likely very limited. One example might be analyzing how the protests could be helping or hurting the stock prices of companies that advertise with the NFL or media companies that cover football.
Potential pitfalls: In the example of a company writing about the impact of the protests on stock prices, this could be an interesting perspective on an issue that has generated a tremendous amount of attention. But it is such a polarizing issue that the company would need to weigh the benefits against the potential costs of joining the public conversation. Even if the company went to great lengths to show that it was not casting support or judgment on any side of the issue, the message may be misinterpreted and the company could unwittingly get swept into a highly charged debate.
Deciding what topics to cover in your newsletter can be a challenging task, but when it comes to writing about things that are generating headlines in the mainstream media, don’t make the decision more difficult than it needs to be. Narrow your focus and think about providing valuable content related to your services—sometimes the day’s biggest stories will fall within that scope, and sometimes they won’t.
About the Author
Scott Wentworth is the founder and head financial writer at Wentworth Financial Communications. Scott and the team of writers and editors at WFC help professionals across the financial services industry build their brands by creating investment-grade white papers, bylined articles, newsletters, blogs, social media posts, and other forms of content marketing.