Wealth managers missing out on social media


More than one third of wealth managers might be missing out on social media and the opportunity of communications it offers when dealing with high net worth (HNW) clients, according to UK-based firm, Verdict Financial.
The financial services research firm said that according to its study not all wealth managers were taking the opportunity the social media platform offered properly to reach out to their clients because many wealth mangers had strict policy in place preventing the companies from too much exposure to social media.
Katri Tuomainen, analyst for Wealth Management at Verdict Financial, noted that 37 per cent of wealth managers did not use this channel to communicate with HNW clients, despite the fact that 78 per cent of consumers with investments log in to their social media profiles on a daily basis.
According to the Verdict Financial's study, 51.2 per cent of respondents cited the company policy as a reason for shunning social media, with 42 per cent saying it was "too public."
"When wealth managers are active on social media, it is typically restricted to high-level marketing activity and thought leadership promotion," she said.
"Indeed, many of the larger players that use social media do so under their general brands rather than via the wealth management division, which can limit the impact and reach of their social media activities in targeting wealth management clients,"
"Verdict Financial believes that not having a presence on social media gives an inevitable edge to those wealth managers that do have social media embedded within their marketing and communications strategies, while companies with a policy prohibiting social media use stand to lose out in the long run."
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