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PRESS RELEASE
Brits find it easier to read French than financial jargon Britons just don't 'get it' when it comes to financial language used in financial literature and banking brochures - according to research commissioned by personal finance website The Motley Fool. The research shows that many people find it easier to understand French than financial language, for instance an ISA brochure was rated more confusing than a French Menu, a VCR instruction manual or Shakespeare. More than eight out of ten (86%) people didn't understand the difference between an IFA (Independent Financial Advisor) and an ISA (Individual Savings Account) – an alarming figure considering 39% claimed to have already invested in an ISA! Less than one quarter (22%) understand what a "With-profits fund" is and worryingly one in ten think it guarantees a profit. Even the more common financial terms such as "PEPs" and "Maxi ISAs" are still a mystery to most as nearly half the population (49%) admit they don't have a clue what they are. More than eight out of ten (82%) do not understand "CAT standards" and 77% are unclear on "Redemption yields" although both phrases are regularly used in financial services brochures. Despite the introduction of CAT standards to guarantee clarity and a certain quality of service the public do not even understand the term. Brits' financial ignorance could even go deeper than these results reveal says The Motley Fool. Over half (58%) claimed they knew the meaning of a "Unit Trust", but in reality less than half of those (46%) actually selected the correct answer in a multiple-choice option. David Berger, founder of The Motley Fool UK said: "People are quite capable of making informed decisions about their own money but how can they do this if they can't understand what they are reading? We are calling on the whole financial services industry to speak plain, jargon-free English". Mr Berger continued "The Motley Fool strives to make personal finance accessible and understandable so that people can make the most of their savings; but in the face of confusing terminology and unexplained jargon, persuading people that personal finance is anything other than confusing and dull is a real challenge". >> Cut your way through the financial jargon at the Fool's School or by using our Glossary. References In the course of the research The Motley Fool examined financial literature provided by: Egg,Torquil Clark plc, Marks and Spencer financial services, Standard Life, Halifax plc, M&G, Legal & General, Perpetual and Newton. The survey was prepared for the Motley Fool for ICM research. The survey was conducted on the 27-29th April and had a total base of 1000 respondents. The Motley Fool The Motley Fool's mission is to help make individual's management of their money fun, profitable and therefore "Foolish", by challenging conventional industry "Wisdom". Launched in 1997, www.fool.co.uk has over 17 million page views and 250,000 visitors every month and has been awarded: The Motley Fool provides content for most of the UK's top websites including Yahoo!, MSN, AltaVista and Freeserve and writes regular columns for a number of publications including Bloomberg Money and the Independent on Sunday. It has published several books in the UK, one of which, the UK Investment Guide, was a best seller on Amazon UK and the Sunday Times business books. For more information, please contact The RED Consultancy: Jonathan Hollett 020 7465 7792 or Emily Wintle 020 7 465 7744