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It all started with “disaggregated valuation ratios.” I was writing a news article on a recent piece of award-winning academic work. I had spoken with the author and used the term to describe how market returns could be predicted more accurately over one-month and one-year periods.
“What the [insert curse here] is that?” our European Editor Elizabeth Pfeuti asked when looking over the story. It was like a bucket of cold water poured over my clouded head. I had assumed too much and explained too little. I had not done my job well.
It led me to think: The role of our industry, and any industry, is to raise the bar—to heighten the overall level of awareness and understanding. The financial world is crowded with business jargon. “Solutions” appears on nearly every asset manager’s website. It means nothing to anyone. Instead of “solutions,” why not explain the underlying value in the product being pitched? I am skeptical of any product whose value cannot be easily explained.
Thus, in an effort to raise the bar, I asked several of my most helpful sources for the jargon they hate the most. What makes them red in the face? What makes them cringe?
For Tim Walsh, the CIO of New Jersey’s pension system, it’s the word “robust.” The word is often used in the context of “a robust platform of investment opportunities,” or “a robust team.” Maybe next time you’re tempted to use the word, think of this motto: “Show me, don’t tell me.”
Dhvani Shah, CIO at the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, told me her least favorite piece of jargon is “customized.” She said that people in the industry often use the word to describe a proposed product. “When you take an in-depth look, it’s turning out to be just another marketing term and not truly customized for the investor’s needs,” she said.
“Differentiated approach,” answered another source, an investment analyst at a university foundation who asked not to be identified. “Of course it’s differentiated, otherwise you wouldn’t have a business. Just because it’s differentiated doesn’t make it ‘good.’ One can differentiate by being a terrible asset manager.”
Yet jargon will always be engrained in the fabric of our corporate world. It is a way to flaunt knowledge of an industry. It is a way to say: “I belong. Take me seriously!”
The purpose of this letter is not to completely trash jargon. Jargon can be fun sometimes. It often makes me feel like we’re in some secret society no one else can understand. It’s a language of our own. Instead, the purpose of this letter is to serve as a reminder that jargon should be used carefully and at a minimum.
One of my all-time favorite books is The Elements of Style, published in 1919. It notes that “vigorous writing is concise,” urging to “avoid fancy words” and “be clear.” It asserts “no one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader’s intelligence, or whose attitude is patronizing.”
It is easy to get swept into the web of jargon because it requires less effort than delving through the maze to discover what it all actually means. We should remain sincere in our effort to make sense of this crazy and complicated world. Once in a while, we should pour the analogous bucket of water over our own heads to get back to the basics—weeding out meaningless terms from our vocabulary. Often, when trying to impress, we simply end up confusing. What is the value in that?