Finfluencers – opportunities and implications for collaboration in the financial advice and wealth management sector

In November, Ashfords took part in the latest Future Finance Collaborative Challenge Programme – as part of an expert panel discussing the rise in popularity of ‘finfluencers’ and potential for engagement with financial advisors and wealth management firms.

This article highlights opportunities, risks and implications ‘finfluencers’ bring to the space, providing helpful insights for firms helpful insights for firms considering partnership or an alternative route to marketing of financial services with well-established finfluencers.

A world of change

The pace of change in the financial services sector can’t be ignored, not only nature and delivery of products and services and increased scope of regulation, but also how individuals engage – consuming information, educating themselves and making financial decisions in a digital first world.

For firms in the sector, like financial advisors, wealth managers, investment platforms and similar providers, it can be challenging to keep pace with emerging trends, let alone leverage them as routes to market or approach for enhancing existing client relationships.

Enter, the finfluencer

A new avenue has emerged in recent years, amid rising demand for accessible, relatable and community focused financial guidance, education and content – enter, the 'finfluencer'.

Volume of financial content on social media platforms has increased dramatically – with younger generations, first-time investors or those disengaged with traditional financial services are turning to content creators and social media personalities for their financial education, digestible 'bite-sized' content and more accessible information on different financial products.

Finfluencers leverage the familiarity of social media, with friendly tones and easier approach to engage vs. those traditional routes of securing financial advice that individuals may perceive as difficult to access, due to cost, complexities or lack of relatability.

Finfluencers for good

This has led to Finfluencers gaining traction, for better or for worse.

Finfluencers are usually individuals or organisations using digital channels like Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, Discord, and different podcasts and forums, publishing content on savings and budgeting strategies, investments and wealth building, pros and cons of different financial products and services, and personal experiences of financial education.

We believe ‘good’ finfluencers, with clear credentials, a strong following, transparent business models and a genuine approach to their content, could present positive opportunities for collaboration with existing regulated firms, to support access to financial services and help navigate the UK’s advice gap.

This means we don’t focus on those ‘bad’ finfluencers here, operating with ulterior motives, in breach of regulatory standards, with focuses on more high risk products. However, it’s an area feeling the full force of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – with the FCA leading a global crackdown, prosecuting multiple Finfluencers and closing over 1,600 websites suspected of unlawfully promoting financial services without appropriate permissions.

The crux of whether a finfluencer might need to be FCA authorised is also an important consideration, it’s not dependent on follower count or platform, rather it depends on what they say and how content is delivered – it can be thought of as a spectrum:

1. Generic financial education: for example explaining what an ISA is, how compound interest works, difference between shares and bonds.
2. Themed or curated content: for example low-cost global equity funds you might want to research, comparisons of fees or features of products, portfolio ideas for different risk appetites.
3. Personalised nudges or recommendations: for example thanks for your comment, you should invest in A and B, because C and D; or if you’re 30 with medium risk appetite you should invest £X with 80% in ETF Y and 20% in ETF Z.

The closer a finfluencer strays to number 3 above, the greater the risk being in scope of regulation, either carrying on regulated activities (perhaps content amounting to a form of regulated advice, requiring a finfluencer to be FCA authorised or exempt from that requirement) or issuing a financial promotion (essentially a communication for a party to engage in investment activities, likely requiring approval by an FCA regulated firm).

Should we consider finfluencer engagement?

Finfluencer engagement could be tempting for some, to explore opportunities for reaching new audiences or approaching existing clients via different routes, or even to help develop a content strategy and train ‘internal’ finfluencers for a firm’s own online socials and channels.

However, brand and reputation is often a key asset within the wealth and investment sector, so possibility for collaboration should be carefully considered; for example:

• Clarity: firms should ensure content provides clarity, given risks of finfluencer’s straying beyond general financial education and into ‘regulated’ financial advice and financial promotions. Equally, ensure an effective strategy exists for the finfluencer interacting with individual followers and duration of content plans, posts and publications etc.
• Financial promotions: firms need to be mindful of their regulatory responsibilities, not least the FCA’s financial promotion regime – content must be 'fair, clear and not misleading'. The FCA maintains helpful social media guidance on this, here.
• Oversight and controls: firms remain responsible for approving content for promotion, thought should be given to how this works in practice, what guardrails are necessary – establish sign-off processes for scripts, posts, stories and videos; consider appropriate risk warnings; andeffective balance of risk and reward in content.
• Target market: does the finfluencer’s following actually align with your firms target market and audience for particular products and services, this should be considered in context of potential user vulnerabilities and the FCA’s consumer duty outcomes.
• Due diligence: it’s critical to consider your choice of finfluencer very carefully, get under the hood to understand the nature of their followers, credentials and market knowledge, and revenue model, also spend time considering past content and partners to determine if these align with your own brand, values and expectations.
• Training and monitoring: make sure the finfluencer understands your brand, offering and expectations, consider appropriate regulatory and conduct training, related is there appropriate ongoing monitoring in place, including sampling post, analysing engagement data, reviewing use comments for signs of potential harm or misunderstanding.

Risk and reward 

So in summarising, it’s clear that a carefully curated finfluencer partnership could be a positive step forwards, although care should be taken – weighing up those pros and cons:

Next steps if you’re considering a partnership?

If you’re considering engaging a finfluencer, we’d first suggest an internal ‘stock take’, considering:

• Business buy-in for the project
• The desired outcome
• How does it slot into existing content plans and road maps?
• What does ‘good’ look like, in terms of compliance and operational oversight?
• What does ‘bad’ look like?
• Are you comfortable with the risks?

Following that, consider your due diligence, what do you need to get comfortable with your shortlisted finfluencer and, just as important, ensure a well put together service agreement is prepared, clearly setting out legal position and responsibilities and to manage key operational and commercial expectations as part of the venture.

Future Finance – challenges at the cutting edge of the UK financial services sector 

The Future Finance team is continuing to research and gather information on the challenge topic and plan to pitch a plan of action to firms involved in its accelerator programme in Q4 2025.

Future Finance is focused on boosting the UK financial services sector’s impact and global competitiveness, offering support packages and accelerator programmes to UK financial services providers to adopt innovative products and processes for the future.

This particular challenge was designed to address issues and consider requirements if a firm in the advice space where to look to partner with a finfluencer to test expanding its reach to a wider client audience via alternative marketing channels. The expert group considered key developments impacting the sector and discussed strategies for positive partnerships with a finfluencer.

Oliver Woodhouse, Ashfords’ financial service regulatory lead said:

“Future Finance is a great advocate, supporting UK SMEs in the sector to grow and take opportunities to innovate, in terms of service delivery. The challenge topic is really relevant given the volume of financial content pushed through social media, there’s clear opportunity for regulated firms to deliver effective content via digital channels to support financial literacy and education – which is timely given the launch of the UK’s financial inclusion strategy in November”.

Getting in touch

Ashfords’ team has experience advising a variety of FCA regulated firms in the advice and wealth management space as well as innovative technology providers to the sector. 

Please get in touch with Oliver Woodhouse or Andrew Roberts if you’d like to discuss UK regulatory changes impacting the sector.