A decade marked by:
- 120 Economic Reviews
- 240 Property Market Reviews
- 1,840 wealth, money and home finance articles
- Immeasurable key client bespoke content pieces
- 10,563 cups of tea
- 4.63 million meetings (mostly with Mike – it’s been a pleasure!)
- And 520 very fulfilling working weeks (give or take some annual leave) with some really special people.
The content team (mostly) and I, write a huge volume of content, from regular ready-to-use syndicated pieces to bespoke client work – there’s never a dull moment. I enjoy the structure the regular content provides, it’s a framework of ‘known knowns’ throughout the month. The bespoke work brings variety, depth and requires a whole new set of skills and client familiarity. The corporate team are proficient in building and maintaining these relationships and briefing content on their requirements.
Over the years, we’ve essentially become a publishing house (as well as a marketing company) as we write and respond to UK and global events. Our weekly News in Review content captures all these events. It’s a great safety net, which allows us to be nimble and capture last minute events, and a fantastic website piece. Trump has certainly kept us on our toes this year. Research and keeping up to date is a key element of the job. We need to understand developments and technical changes, to identify what an adviser would want to convey to their clients and how.
I’m looking forward to writing the Year in Review in December to capture all the key events and look ahead to what 2026 has in store for investors. That’s probably my favourite piece to write because it’s satisfying to reflect and draw a line under the year, knowing it’s the final piece of content and to look forward with anticipation of what lies ahead.
With a background in investment management, the content that resonates most with me is the wealth content we create. Investing really floats my boat, it’s compelling and nuanced, with so many factors at play. One way I keep my finger on the pulse of the industry and maintain my Chartered status, is through watching The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment TV. It’s really interesting learning about the mega trends that are shaping our world. Thematic investing is fascinating, the underlying themes are applicable to our lives, why would you not try to capture that in your investment portfolio?
Some of the things I’ve learnt over the past ten years
- The importance of tone of voice and adhering to a style of writing
- The most underrated skill of all is listening – and read between the lines, pay attention to what’s left unsaid, that’s equally important
- Don’t just listen to people with the loudest voices but create space for others to share their thoughts
- Be around people who energise you, always have something interesting to say and make a decent cuppa (thanks Rach!)
- Work continuously to be one of those energising individuals with a growth mindset, develop yourself every day (it’s what we tell our kids and still applies to us)
- Be interested in people – life is better when you are
- The importance of amazing design can bring your words to life! – that’s a really satisfying thing to see (thanks Nic and the design crew!)
- All of a sudden, you’re the old one in the room – outweighed by the joy of seeing less ‘mature’ people progressing and developing is a privilege
- A biscuit tin in the office correlates with a happier work force – without question – and conversations about food gain the most animation in the office (probably a universal phenomenon) – Matt, this one’s for you!
Closing the knowledge gap
With a true passion for creating accessible, engaging, thought provoking content – whether it be bespoke or ready to use – we pour our heart into every piece. Playing a small part in closing the knowledge gap, making topics which can be technical, dry or difficult to understand, accessible and engaging.
One of my favourite moments was when a colleague read our ‘Finances for Women’ guide and told me it had inspired her to get investing – that was a happy day (I’m really pleased it struck a chord Lucie! – well done you for taking heed).
The exciting bit – ultra-personalisation – adding the ‘alpha’
The launch of our content sharing platform Content Streams has ramped up our content creation even further. The ability to enable firms and advisers to easily share content with different segments of clients through multiple channels and in various formats, combined with optimising the set-up of a firm’s back office to share their data with Content Streams is a game changer.
Ultra-personalisation of our content, tailored to specific categories of client is the future (and is happening now, with great results!) – and that’s exciting! The ability to write content that is specific to different client groups, so it’s truly relevant to them, ‘saw this and thought of you’ – no ‘one size fits all’ – talk about adding ‘alpha’ – that’s the value add right there.
With PDFs in the rearview mirror and so many other formats to use to reach out to your clients – video, social media, podcasts – content creation has changed dramatically – we all need to ride the wave and connect.
Looking forward
I’m supported by the most ‘fantastical’ (you know who you are Mrs Haines) content wing woman and team. Our aim is to keep delivering the highest quality content for our clients – it’s what we do. And to facilitate the sharing of that content in the most streamlined, efficient way.
A decade at TOMD means to me – contentment that I’m in the right place, but with a desire to keep growing personally and pushing forward as a business, with support and momentum from skilled, progressive colleagues and like-minded clients – let’s keep shaping the future together.
