Financial firms are under pressure to make their communications clearer, more concise, and easier to read. In the UK, Consumer Duty rules have turned readability from a “nice to have” into a regulatory must. In the U.S., Reg BI and the SEC’s plain-language push are steering firms in the same direction.
That means more marketing and compliance teams are paying attention to scores like Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level or Flesch Reading Ease—and often being asked to hit a number.
That’s not a bad thing.
These tools can be a useful start. But they’re just that—a start. If your writing clears the Flesch hurdle but still makes readers feel confused, bored, or talked down to, then the score has missed the point. Let’s take a closer look at what readability really means.
One of the most common myths in investment writing is that clear writing has to be dumbed down. Not true.
Good writing doesn’t water down ideas. It lights them up.
You don’t have to lose depth to gain clarity. You do have to lose jargon. You have to explain things in a logical order and say what you mean in plain terms. You have to remember who your reader is—and write for them, not for your CEO, your boss, or your peers.
That’s hard work. But it’s also what earns trust.
Flesch scores are built around two inputs: sentence length and word length. Short sentences and short words equal a high score. Sounds good, right?
But here’s the catch: Flesch doesn’t know if your word is clear—just if it’s short.
So “stem” scores better than “origin” or “cause.” But unless you’re writing about flowers, “stem” might not make sense. Likewise, “fret,” “glean,” and “gauge” all get high marks. But they’re not always the best words. They might be old-fashioned, obscure, or just wrong for your tone.
You can write a sentence made up entirely of one-syllable words. But that doesn’t mean it’s clear. Or human. Or helpful.
Good readability isn’t just about the words. It’s also about how you shape your ideas.
Here are a few things that make a big difference:
Even if every sentence passes a readability test, you’ll still lose your reader if the story doesn’t hang together.
Who’s your target audience? Picture them. What do they know? What don’t they know? What do they care about? What tone would feel helpful to them?
Write for that person. If your content scores 60 on the Flesch Reading Ease test but your reader doesn’t understand it—or doesn’t want to read it—you haven’t won.
Keep in mind that don’t need to aim for a perfect Flesch score. You need to aim for writing that works. That means making sure your reader can follow your thoughts. That they can grasp the meaning. That they don’t have to reread anything twice.
Sometimes that will mean shorter sentences. Sometimes it means cutting buzzwords. Sometimes it means choosing “buy” instead of “acquire.”
And sometimes it means going back to the top and asking: What’s the point? Am I really saying it?
At Copylab, we help investment and financial services firms write and design in ways that build trust, clarity, and connection. Our writers and designers are trained to balance precision and creativity with readability, even in highly technical content. If you’d like to talk about improving your commentaries, white papers, infographics, landing pages, emails, or any other content, we’d love to hear from you.
