I am lucky enough to receive hundreds of comments, thoughts and press releases on a daily basis. Some of these are expected, some are not, but there are a few traits almost all have in common.
Notably there are a few phrases that seem to feature very regularly. However, I am not convinced firms are always being completely genuine with these…
Having already covered quite a few of these popular phrases previously, there have been a few new phrases cropping up recently, so I felt it was time to revisit what firms might actually mean (with a light-hearted touch of course).
Here’s what I came up with…
Phrase Our values really align
Translation This firm was the highest bidder and will provide shareholders with the largest payout
How well do a private equity firm’s values and a wealth manager’s values really align? Anecdotally it seems there are quite a few in the industry that are questioning this…
Phrase Consumer Duty hasn’t really impacted us
Translation It has been an absolute nightmare but we don’t want people to know this
It makes sense that firms would rather not advertise the fact that they may have had to make significant changes in light of Consumer Duty. This would likely lead to follow up questions such as why these changes were needed and whether or not there was something wrong with their previous practices.
Phrase We are targeting Net Zero by 2050
Translation We are feeling pressure to do something about sustainability but don’t actually want to do anything
A target of 2050 is far enough away that firms don’t really have to do much currently – and certainly don’t have to dedicate significant time or resource to it at this stage (if of course they don’t want to).
Phrase Strategic decision
Translation This was just a normal decision, but putting strategic in front of it makes it sound more important.
This might also stop people asking about the rationale behind the decision as the firm can just say it was ‘strategic’.
I’m sure there are many phrases readers could add to the list, please do get in touch with your favourites.
