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InvestmentNews: A Financial Hub for Advisors and Readers

Seung Ha Lee

Professor Whittet

February 9, 2017
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Abstract

The website I have chosen to analyze is InvestmentNews, which delivers news,

data and research to audiences interested in finance. It also organizes conferences and

webcasts to connect readers with experts in their respective field. The website covers

various topics from investment to insurance, providing all the resources any financial

advisors would need online. The community in InvestmentNews is comprised of

professionals and non-professionals who seek financial guidance in this industry. The

main purpose of InvestmentNews is to provide a public forum with reliable financial

information through articles, webcasts, videos, research and events.

The overall function of this text is to inform and engage readers the most up-to-

date and accurate information in the finance industry. To ensure readers are provided with

the best available information, the site allows users to navigate through multiple topics of

finance. Specifically, the Fiduciary Focus page was created to provide the most up-to-

date information on the rule and its impact of the recent proposed change to the

definition of fiduciary. Users trust this page as a source of financial data because it

provides links to both quantitative and qualitative information about the new fiduciary

rule. Qualitative information is presented in the Guest Perspective tab, which features

articles written by professionals outside of the InvestmentNews community. For instance,

Charles Goldman wrote an editorial Harmonizing Multiple Fiduciary Standards Should

Be Priority that discusses the emphasis on fixing the fiduciary rule in a timely manner.

He quotes a fiduciary standard is critical for advisers to deliver holistic financial advice.

At its core, the fiduciary standard guarantees that the adviser is at all times putting his or

her clients interest above their own (Goldman, 2016). As the president and CEO of
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AssetMark Inc, Charles Goldman has the credentials and expertise to inform the

community the problems and solutions of the new fiduciary rule. Thus, his experience

validates the qualitative information presented in his editorial. Likewise, quantitative

information is presented through graphs and numbers. For instance, Fidelity Investments

surveyed advisers about the negative impact the new rule would have on compliance-

related tasks and adviser compensation. In the Graphics column, the page displays 75%

of advisers anticipated a negative impact on compliance-related tasks and 58% of

advisers anticipated a negative impact on adviser compensation. These statistics suggest

that the community values quantitative details and numbers that advisers can measure.

Not only does InvestmentNews focuses on the quality of its content but also puts effort

into growing as a community of proficient financers.

The goals for InvestmentNews are to educate its readers and to help them apply

that knowledge in their careers. Financial topics discussed are industry specific,

developed specifically for financial advisors, and designed to help guide them with the

best way to grow their practices (About Us, 2017). By describing its mission statement

as a guide for the real-world business, InvestmentNews believes that its information is

reliable and readers trust that it is applicable to their day-to-day efforts in their

businesses. The community also values growth in our skills because the industry is

unpredictable and difficult to understand due to changing economic environments.

The website serves both primary and secondary communities: financial advisors

and casual readers, respectively. Financial advisors can gain more in-depth knowledge

about an industry through the Research tab or Data & Resource tab. The tone of these

publications is professional and objective. For instance, in the Fiduciary Focus section,
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Greg Iacurci published an article DOL proposes allowing some insurance intermediaries

to use a BICE under fiduciary rule. The language in the title shows professionalism as it

uses terminology related to the insurance industry. The author further describes this

financial situation explaining: IMOs cater to independent insurance agents, through

functions such as product marketing and distribution, training, and sales and compliance

support. Independent agents are by far the largest distribution channel for indexed

annuities, representing roughly 60% of product sales (Greg Iacurci, 2017). Because this

text provides definitions for IMOs and independent agents along with statistical data,

the tone remains consistently objective. The information and vocabulary in this piece are

primarily addressed to financial advisors as they have the expertise to fully understand

this text.

On the other hand, InvestmentNews also provides casual readers, who are open to

learn about finance, access to news and articles that are more informal and easy to

understand. In the Opinion or Features tab, the overall tone is subjective and personal.

For instance, Joe Duran published Facebook challenge 2017: Moving beyond money.

Clients want us to spend less time talking about money and more time discussing their

lives. The language used in the title attracts an audience that is familiar in the social

media field, specifically people who are mainly interested in Facebook as a company.

Moving beyond money also gives readers the impression that the blog will not heavily

discuss about the finances of Facebook. Furthermore, the author suggests, What

improvements would clients of the wealth management industry want from their advisers

to improve their experience? As ironic as it sounds, what Ive found from my own direct

conversations with clients is that they want us to spend less time talking about money and
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more time discussing their lives (Joe Duran, 2017). The style of this text is narrative, as

the author wants to discuss more about the challenges for Facebook and his direct

conversations with clients. Also, the overall tone is conversational because the author

asks questions and informs readers in a casual manner. Ultimately, this article highlights

the necessity of a narrative text because the community values authors who can interpret

the given facts and figures and express their opinions.

The discourse community stresses the importance of interaction outside of its

online system. In the Events tab, it offers anyone to register various conferences to learn

more about the subject and to network with other financial advisors. Events such as

Icons & Innovators and Women Adviser Summit support attendees gain proven tools

to build [their] business and discover a forum to network with peers(Women Adviser

Summit, 2017). These events suggest that the InvestmentNews community values human

interaction outside of its online hub and encourages communication between

professionals in their field. This tab also emphasizes the validity of its published

resources by demonstrating financial tools to attendees in these real-life events.

The analysis and evidence provided suggests that the functionality of

InvestmentNews is to readily offer financial information to primarily financial advisors.

The majority of its publications uses high-level terminology and expository style of

writing but also offers alternative, opinionated reports for general readers. It values

engagement and interaction with other professionals through webcasts and conferences,

which enhances InvestmentNews main functionality. In conclusion, InvestmentNews

fulfills its mission statement as a guide and tool for users to learn and fully engage in the

finance industry.
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References

About Us. (2017). Retrieved January 24, 2017, from

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20100216/STATIC/302169999

Duran, Joe. (2017). Facebook challenge 2017: Moving beyond money. Clients

want us to spend less time talking about money and more time discussing their lives.

Retrieved January 24, 2017, from

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20170117/BLOG16/170119935/facebook-

challenge-2017-moving-beyond-money

Goldman, Charles. (2016). Harmonizing Multiple Fiduciary Standards Should Be

Priority. Retrieved February 7, 2017, from

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20160804/FREE/160809963/harmonizing-

multiple-fiduciary-standards-should-be-priority

Iacurci, Greg. (2017). DOL proposes allowing some insurance intermediaries to

use a BICE under fiduciary rule. Retrieved January 24, 2017, from

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20170118/FREE/170119925/dol-proposes-

allowing-some-insurance-intermediaries-to-use-a-bice

Women Adviser Summit. (2017). Retrieved January 24, 2017, from

http://www.investmentnews.com/section/event?eventID=WAS