LV= Investments for Humans

The challenge

LV=’s challenge was twofold: to boost their profile as an investment fund manager with advisers (who still associated the brand with general insurance rather than investments), and to grow the market by changing adviser behaviour. Specifically, increasing recommendations of smoothed funds.

Smoothed Managed Funds represented only a small portion of the multi-asset retail market. So we needed to appeal beyond LV=’s existing adviser base, increase understanding of their Smoothed Managed Funds (SMF), and normalise it as a mainstream adviser solution.

Our approach

Insight into market dynamics (increasing adviser regulation, the move from DB to DC pensions and the increasingly volatile markets) all pointed to the rational adviser need to deliver more certainty for their clients investments, especially as their clients approach retirement.

And the Smooth Managed funds was perfectly positioned to decrease volatility and increase client composure with a smoother investment journey.

However, previous campaigns explaining the rational benefit of reducing volatility failed to shift advisers habits.

To achieve the cut through needed, we knew we would have to do two things:

1. increase relevancy to the current market dynamics and adviser needs and
2. be differentiated in our creative and messaging to achieve our goals.

We needed a more emotive and differentiated way to increase awareness – which would then give us the air time to explain the benefits that would help normalise it as a more mainstream adviser solution.

Following a deep review of market dynamics insight across the business – we uncovered three key areas that we felt we could tap into to help position the LV= Smoothed Managed Funds in a unique way:

1. Consumer Duty regulation outlines the need for providers and advisers to be aware of behavioural biases to support good customer outcomes. And, the Financial Services industry is growing more and more cognisant of the power of human psychology to influence decision making.
2. The mass market transition from DB to DC pensions creates the need for more certainty in investment performance – especially for clients nearing or in retirement
3. Uncertain and volatile times, like we’re currently in, increases client fears of running out of money. Our proprietary consumer research indicated that volatile markets can trigger emotional client reactions, and we wanted to support advisers, by showcasing our solution that helps manage client emotion.

To support growth in their Smoothed Managed Funds (SMF), we really leaned into the first insight and developed a campaign leveraging behavioural psychology—specifically loss aversion—to differentiate LV=’s offering and reposition the brand in the investment space. This would elevate the campaign beyond your usual product push into a much wider and more ownable territory – of ‘Investment for humans’.

We developed a clear messaging matrix based on three key pillars:

• Investments backed by behavioural science
• Smoothed funds built to boost client composure
• Modern investing with scientific smoothing, partnering with BlackRock

The “Investments for humans” campaign headline enabled us to capture attention and build curiosity that would encourage advisers to find out more.

The campaign creative also leveraged other behavioural psychology principles to entice adviser engagement:

• ‘Information gap theory’ to create intrigue and build curiosity
• ‘Differentiation’ by discussing investments in an emotionally intriguing way
• ‘Picture superiority effect’ using imagery that elicits stronger emotional reactions

Through targeted nationwide roadshows, content, and media activity, the campaign boosted awareness, adviser engagement, and brand credibility.

The results

The following commercial KPIs were achieved:

• Smoothed Managed Funds quotes uplift = 86.8% increase
• Smoothed Managed Funds application uplift = 57.6% increase
• Smoothed Managed Funds completions uplift = 84.0% increase

Results based on Jan-June 2024 vs Jan-June 2025

The following uplift in marketing results demonstrates the positive impact of the campaign:

• Awareness: Early signs from adviser interactions and campaign performance indicate a positive increase in sentiment.
• Website traffic: +26.5% increase in new users vs benchmark, with high engagement across LV=’s video suite, resulting in a 717% increase in video views compared to previous campaigns.
• Visibility: LV=’s Google Display Network activity soared 136% above target, achieving 8.5 million impressions with our target audience.
• Social media engagement: Paid LinkedIn activity delivered almost double (1.4m) against our target top of funnel impressions, indicating content resonance with the target audience

Looking to change adviser behaviour and grow complex investment products in regulated markets? Speak to award-winning Moreish Marketing about financial services marketing grounded in behavioural insight and commercial impact.