Avoiding the social media ‘red herring’
Speaking at our recent Social Media in Wealth Management Forum, Magnus Wheatley of Charles Stanley – an early adopter and pioneer of social media in the wealth management space – told us that one client walked in to its Leeds office and opened a £5million account on the strength of reading a tweet and blog post. Proof indeed that social media can have a direct impact on the bottom line.
Yet it is not as simple as that. In an article on the use of social media by ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWIs), David Friedman points to a red herring “that the only UHNWIs that are on social media are the hedge fund managers, private equity fund managers and the so called ‘digerati’. However, the UHNW digerati are unlikely to connect with you on Facebook or on Linkedln unless you already have a relationship.” Getting inside this group is particularly difficult, as Freidman points out it is almost impossible to qualify someone financially and therefore the use of these platforms and tools will have limited value.
In the wider HNW market, social media is certainly here to stay. The results of research undertaken by Citigate Dewe Rogerson and PAM Insight showed that wealth advisors and intermediaries are embracing change and looking to adopt more social media strategies. Nearly three quarters of respondents (72%) said they were considering establishing a LinkedIn corporate presence. Around a third are considering launching a YouTube channel, and a similar number are considering launching a blog. The majority are also considering launching a company twitter account.
There are of course concerns. Over half of the respondents to our survey (55%) named a lack of control as the biggest fear. Compliance restrictions (42%), lack of resources (34%) and maintaining brand consistency (16%) were also worries.
Yet the overall view is that social media will be increasingly adopted in the wealth management industry. Those that adopt a progressive approach will surely benefit. Please get in touch to find out more about our survey and how social media is shaking up the wealth management industry.