Personality beats polish

Francis Grabowski, Strategist at Bladonmore, explains why authenticity now matters more than ever in private wealth communications.

The private wealth sector has long operated behind a veil of polished discretion. For years, the “corporate shield” – characterized by heavy mahogany offices, jargon-heavy reports, and a faceless, institutional voice – was seen as a mark of stability. It signaled to high-net-worth individuals that their capital was in safe, serious hands.

Now, digital channels have changed how trust is built. Today’s clients are looking at the people within a firm as much as the firm itself. The traditional, polished approach to corporate communications is less engaging than it once was.

In fact, the power of personal authenticity was the overriding takeaway when we reviewed six months of data from 20 of the most active Fortune 500 LinkedIn accounts to see what captures attention (you can find the report here).

The results point to a clear lesson for all companies, including private capital firms targeting private wealth investors: it’s time to bring out the names and faces behind the balance sheets.

Don’t just follow the crowd

There is a common misconception in financial communications that a digital presence must be cold to be professional. Our research suggests that the opposite – human warmth – drives engagement. We found that the most engaging posts across every category were human-driven and proof-based: content with personality, rooted in somebody’s own experience.

The push to produce more human-centric content often results in “thought leadership.” At its best, this can be a powerful tool. However, our findings suggest the term is sometimes misapplied to thinly veiled sales pitches or generic commentary that audiences could easily find through a Google search or a quick chat with AI.

As AI-generated content drives up volume, the market is becoming increasingly saturated with undifferentiated material. Smaller firms competing against the larger budgets of bigger players should resist adding to the noise. Instead, they should be highly selective about what they publish, prioritizing quality, originality, and relevance over quantity.

Let your people show personality

So, what should you share? While thought leadership underperformed, posts that feature C-suite personalities ranked second for engagement. And it’s an area that accounted for only 8% of all posts.

For private capital firms, a strong corporate brand carries significant weight, but today’s investors want to know more about the people managing their money. Despite this, many firms suppress the distinct voices of their leadership team in favor of a homogenized, often bland, message. 

The data shows that allowing leaders to step outside the corporate script, or supplement it with their own perspectives, delivers a competitive edge. Clearly, this must be managed in the right way, but when executives share their insights conversationally in their own voice, they build a level of credibility that a marketing brochure cannot replicate.

Your history is proprietary. Treat it like an asset.

When you want people to buy into your future, your history is a powerful tool. In our study, heritage and history content ranked as the number one theme for engagement, yet it was the least used, appearing in only 2% of posts. The best part is that these are stories that only you can tell.

Private wealth firms are often sitting on decades of unique stories. Sharing these milestones, the lessons learned from previous market cycles, or the evolution of the firm’s philosophy, demonstrate credibility, experience, and thoughtfulness. It moves the conversation from, “believe me because I said so” to, “believe me because I’ve shown you.”

The most effective formats are often leaders sharing their own journeys: how they got to where they are today, their biggest challenges, and what they’ve learned along the way.

In private wealth, trust is personal. Your communications should be too. The firms that thrive will be those brave enough to drop the jargon, step out from behind the logo, and show some personality – demonstrating, rather than declaring their value.

If you’d like to discuss how to build a more authentic voice for your firm, please get in touch.