Tag Archive for: investment commentary

Resources for quarterly investment commentary writers

/1 Comment/in , /by

If you’re about to start writing your quarterly investment performance commentary, you may find the following resources useful.

YOU pick the winner: Most reassuring title for investors

/in , /by

Different folks find different titles reassuring amid the stock market’s ups and downs. This is what I’ve gathered from my call for “Article titles that reassure investors.”

My readers, including connections on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, and I have submitted the titles you’ll find below. They are listed in alphabetical order.

Please vote for your favorite in the poll that appears in the right-hand column of this blog. If you have a better title, you can add it to the poll.

  • 5 triggers that will ignite the next bull market
  • A lost decade, really?
  • Bernanke Replaced by Harry Potter
  • The blessing of balance: A view from Down Under
  • Comfort is rarely rewarded: Maverick Risk and False Benchmarks
  • Downgrade should mean little to long-term investors
  • Has the Downgrade Created a Buying Opportunity?
  • How can I retire after 12 years of range-bound markets?
  • How to invest in a market with a ceiling
  • How to make money whether the market goes up or down
  • I love the smell of napalm in the morning.
  • Intelligent Trading: A Competitive Advantage During Market Plunges
  • It’s Only Money
  • Pray the Course
  • Run, Ride or Buy? What Should Investors Do?
  • Stocks Survive Slumps Time To Buy Soon
  • Stronger Backdrop for Stocks This Time Around
  • These are the times!
  • Volatility does not imply direction – it’s the price we pay for a higher return in the long run.
  • We’re not Greece!
  • _You can also add your own candidate for most reassuring title.

It’ll be interesting to see which title wins. I wonder what it will say about what we find reassuring.

I will announce the winning title in my October e-newsletter.

Article titles that reassure investors–Submit YOUR candidate

/8 Comments/in , , /by

Investors crave reassurance during volatile times. But it’s not easy to choose words that steady their nerves. With that in mind, I’m putting out a call for article titles that reassure investors.

Please comment with your candidate for the most reassuring title

If I get enough good candidates in the comments on this blog post, I’ll run a poll, so you can vote for a winner, as discussed in the following Facebook post:

Tom Brakke of the research puzzle blog, one of the early supporters of this contest,
clearly enjoys playing with titles. You can see this in his tweet suggesting “Pray the Course” as a reassuring title.

What makes a title reassuring?

The suggestions by John and Tom show a sense of humor, so I’m going to throw out some serious candidates for reassuring titles. I hope the following titles spark some conversation.

What makes a title reassuring? Based on the titles above, I seem to find comfort in titles suggesting I can benefit from–or ignore–market volatility. Right or wrong, this is what works for me.

How about you? What wording do YOU find reassuring?

Aug. 30, 2011 update: I am no longer accepting comments on this post as new candidates for this competition.

Reader challenge: Propose a new title for this commentary

/9 Comments/in , /by

Titles count. Especially in these days of search engine optimization, better known as SEO. But even without SEO, the quality of your blog post or article title can make a difference in your readership.

Today’s Reader Challenge is coming up with a better title for a piece of published investment commentary: “The ‘Great Recalibration.’ ”

First reactions to “The ‘Great Recalibration’ ” as a title

When I skimmed the title “The ‘Great Recalibration,’ ” I couldn’t tell what it was about. Then I read “Volatility in third-party credit ratings heightens the value of proprietary credit research.” Aha. This told me I was reading about bonds and that there might be some useful information in the article. This prompted the Facebook poll you see below.

However, reader comments (see below) on the poll made me think this title provides good fodder for conversation.

Please give your title suggestions below. You’ll probably want to visit the article–at least briefly. I look forward to hearing from you.

Usage tips for portfolio performance commentary writers

/2 Comments/in , , , , /by

It’s almost time for quarter-end investment performance reporting. I have some tips for you.

1. Use the past tense.

Why? Because portfolio performance commentary discusses historical performance.

2. Describe benchmarks’ key characteristics, when appropriate.

The general public doesn’t know the difference between the S&P 500 and the S&P 400. They may think one is a subset of the other, like the Fortune 50 and the Fortune 1000. So specify “the mid-cap S&P 400.”

3. Be consistent in how you spell and punctuate terms.

For example, choose between “indexes” and “indices.” Decide whether you’ll use “small cap” exclusively without a hyphen or hyphenate it as “small-cap” when you use it as an adjective.

4. Limit your references to the time period.

Once you establish that you’re writing about the second quarter, don’t repeat that information frequently. However, if you shift between discussing the second quarter and the month of June, name the periods often enough that your reader follows your transitions.

5. Don’t go crazy replacing “returned,” as in “the fund returned 3%.”

There are plenty of other ways to convey the information in the sentence. However, I believe too much variety is counterproductive in a paragraph that consists mainly of returns. Instead, the variety distracts from the reader’s ability to compare returns. If you’re citing many index returns, perhaps you should insert a table.

Do you have grammar, punctuation, or other usage tips for people writing about investment performance? Please leave them as comments below.

Let’s get possessive: A financial writing tip

/5 Comments/in , , , /by

Sometimes it pays for financial writers to get possessive.

No, I’m not suggesting that you jealously hoard your office supplies or isolate your clients from other professionals. This is a writing tip.

Instead, I’m suggesting that you use the possessive case to shorten phrases.

For example, turn “The tone of the market improved by Friday” into “The market’s tone improved by Friday.”

The next time you find a sentence including “the X of Y,” see if it sounds better rephrased as “Y’s X.”

Plain English means writing sentences that flow better. It’s not only about choosing more basic words.

April 2013 presentations by Susan Weiner, CFA

/in , , /by

New York Society of Security Analysts on April 28

I’m leading a workshop on “How to Write Investment Commentary People Will Read” for the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA) on Thursday, April 28, 2013. The meeting runs from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. The program is for NYSSA members only. Pre-registration required.

Professional Association of Investment Communications Resources on April 28
“How to Write What People Will Read About Investments” is the focus of my presentation for the Professional Association of Investment Communications Resources, more commonly called PAICR. It will run from 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. It is open to non-members. Pre-registration required. Spots are filling quickly, so register now!


Also in APRIL: American Society of Journalists and Authors 2011 Conference

I will moderate–and speak on–panels about corporate writing and white papers at “The Write Road to Success,” the annual conference of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

My panel on “Writing White Papers” takes place on April 30, during the part of the conference with registration open to the public. This event is also in New York City.

Investment writing challenge for my readers

/12 Comments/in , /by

Change one word in the following line to make it a more effective sentence.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index rose and the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index fell.

Post your rewrite in the comments.

I’ve got a writing lesson in mind as I pose this puzzler. I’ll circle back later to explain it, although I wouldn’t be surprised if one of my savvy readers beats me to it.

Quick check for writers, with an economic commentary example

/7 Comments/in , , /by

You CAN edit your own writing.

First-sentence check

Here’s a tip that will help you check how well your piece is structured. Read the first sentence of every paragraph. In combination, do they give the reader a good idea of your main points? If so, you’ve written something that’s likely to survive a busy reader’s scrutiny.

This first-sentence check works because strong business writing typically starts each paragraph with a topic sentence that summarizes the paragraph’s main point or topic.

You can also incorporate the first paragraph into your quick check of your writing. When I write something longer than a blog post, I like to set up my main points in the first paragraph.  This lets me convey my argument to readers who don’t have the patience to read any more.

Example: “Today’s employment report” by Cumberland Advisors

Let’s use “Today’s employment report,” a piece of economic commentary by Cumberland Advisors in Sarasota, Florida, to test the first-sentence approach to checking your writing.

Below you’ll see the first sentences of the first six paragraphs of the commentary. By the way, I’m not copying all of the first sentences because I don’t want to infringe on the firm’s copyright.

  1. Today’s employment report is a disappointment.
  2. Markets got ahead of reality; this is weak economic recovery.
  3. The United States faces the worst employment conditions seen during the entire Post World War II period.
  4. The human tragedy is large.
  5. If you look at the U-6 unemployment rate, you realize that 1 out of 6 in the labor force has either no income or pay that is less than it was three years ago.
  6. To understand the dynamic at work in the US one has to drill into the headline number.

After reading these sentences, do you have a sense of the author’s opinion on the employment report? I think so. To check the relationship between this six-sentence summary and the original commentary, go to “Today’s employment report.”

I like the commentary on the Cumberland Advisors website. It states opinions in an appealing style. I almost feel as if I’m in a conversation with the firm’s investment professionals. You can read more by visiting Cumberland’s commentary archive.

What if your writing flunks?

If your writing flunks the first-sentence test, you may simply need to tweak your content.

For example, if all but one of your first sentences work, you can zero in on the problem sentence’s paragraph of origin. Your problem may be that the topic sentence doesn’t sum up or introduce the paragraph’s main point. You can fix this by rewriting the first sentence.

Alternatively, the offending first sentence may be a sign that the entire paragraph doesn’t belong. Perhaps you’ve gone off on an unnecessary tangent. If so, you can axe the entire paragraph.

Another possibility: Your sentence and paragraph are fine, but belong higher or lower in the commentary. Move the paragraph and you may be set to go.

 

Image courtesy of Jonathan Baker Photography via flickr licensed under CC BY 2.0

Introducing Susan to marketing managers at investment and wealth management firms

/1 Comment/in , , , , /by

White papers, articles, and investment commentary are great marketing tools. But it’s not easy for your firm’s experts to find the time—or maybe the skill—to turn their insights into compelling prose. I can help. I can interview your subject matter experts, review research materials, and write a piece your company can publish under its name. If you prefer, I can edit your draft. Or even teach you how to do it yourself.

You may benefit from my writing, editing, or training services if you are a marketer or communicator for

  • Investment managers—especially if you’re marketing to financial advisors
  • Wealth managers
  • Vendors to any of the above

What you want to write–and how I can help

If you are bursting with ideas, I can turn them into

  • White papers
  • Articles
  • Market or investment performance commentary—commentary may be based on interviews or on attribution analysis and other materials provided by you

If you want to write a piece—or improve your draft—you have several options. You can hire me to

  1. Interview your experts and write your piece
  2. Turn source materials you provide into a polished piece
  3. Use a combination of methods 1 and 2

When you contact me, ask for the graphic of my typical writing process. You’ll get a better idea of how we can work together.

 

How you’ll benefit from working with me

  • Your content will attract a bigger audience because the value you provide will be highlighted in reader-friendly text.
  • You receive your finished product quickly and on schedule. Having worked as a staff reporter for a weekly trade publication, I understand the importance of deadlines.
  • You don’t have to explain yourself in endless detail because I understand your industry. I’m a CFA charterholder who can use language as a financial professional and a journalist.

Contact me today to learn more! You can also check my testimonials on LinkedIn.

 

Boost your writers’ skills

Want to help your subject-matter experts and writers deliver better content? Take advantage of my writing workshops. I’ve presented “How to Write Investment Commentary People Will Read” to CFA societies across the U.S. and Canada. I’ve also spoken about “Writing Effective Emails and Letters” and developed customized writing workshops for corporate clients.

This post was updated on Dec., 19, 2013