Social media finfluencers embrace the rules to reach a new audience

hl.co.uk:

We don’t support this browser anymore. This means our website may not look and work as you would expect. Read more about browsers and how to update them here.

Newsroom

Newsroom articles are published by leading news agencies. Hargreaves Lansdown is not responsible for an article's content and its accuracy. We may not share the views of the author.

HL Podcast

HL Insight

TikTok and Instagram are the last places most older savers would hunt for financial advice, but for young people social media platforms are spaces they're increasingly consulting for information.

Article originally published by The Financial Times. Hargreaves Lansdown is not responsible for its content or accuracy and may not share the author's views. News and research are not personal recommendations to deal. All investments can fall in value so you could get back less than you invest.

Published by

18 Aug 2023

“The genie is already out of the bottle: you’re not going to be able to stop people from posting online,” says Timi Merriman-Johnson, a 33-year-old content creator, widely known as Mr MoneyJar. “That’s where younger people are going to get financial advice.”

Awaiting them is an ocean of cryptocurrency, high-frequency trading and “meme” stocks as influencers promote risky investments, pledging eye-watering returns. It’s a murky world where regulators are working hard to prevent unscrupulous operators taking money unfairly — and often illegally — from young people.

But navigating these choppy waters is a growing group of young financial professionals with a different approach from the rule-breaking scammers — they want to provide straightforward guidance on subjects such as pensions, tax and balanced portfolios.

Merriman-Johnson is among them,