Investment Account Statement Redesign Case Study

Business Objective:

As part of an industry and government initiative to develop more user-friendly investment statements, a financial services company sought customer feedback on proposed new designs of its investment account statement.  The company also wanted to ensure that it was in the forefront of a national movement toward "Plain English" account statements. 

Research Objective:

CMI's mission was to explore:

• Perceptions of the current statement
• Ideas for components of the "ideal" statement
• Assessment of competitors' statements (best practices)
• Reactions to possible new statement design

Methodology:

A series of in-person focus groups was conducted nationally.

The Result:

The research resulted in the design of a new, client-friendly, consolidated statement.  Findings were presented to top management of the company and to senior staff at the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) in Washington, DC.  The research ultimately contributed to the promulgation by the SEC of new rules regarding investment statement formats and content.