For decades, institutional investing has drawn a sharp line between how professionals talk to one another and how they communicate with end investors. CIOs, plan administrators and investment officers were assumed to value precision, structure and technical rigor, while participants required simplification and translation.
According to Invesco’s Winter 2026 Defined Contribution Participant Pulse Survey, that distinction is rapidly breaking down.
In fact, Invesco’s conclusion — based not only on this survey, but on more than 15 years of investor and professional language research — is that there is remarkably little difference between what individual investors say
