[ INVESTMENT INFLUENCERS ]
The fightback
Iona Bain , founder of the Young Money blog , was so worried about the lack of engagement between the wealth management industry and young people that she wrote “ Own It !”, an investment handbook aimed at the next generation . “ I realised there was this huge appetite out there for investing among young people , fed up with low interest rates
and sluggish incomes , but that they were being frozen out by an industry obsessed with big upfront sums and complex tax / wealth management ,” she says . “ This leaves young people vulnerable to alternative sources of information online and they may be seduced by get-rich-quick fantasies and the adrenaline high of quick , cheap trading , especially when encouraged by certain opportunistic platforms . I wrote ‘ Own It !’ to help young people navigate the maze : someone had to do it .”
Sensible investing isn ’ t fun Yearsley says financial advisers need to get on social channels and make their own videos to counter some of the bad investment advice that is being peddled and show that there is another way . The future of the industry is at stake .
“ If a generation of investors don ’ t feel the need to get proper advice and think the only place they can go is social media , that is dangerous for the industry long term ,” he says . “ Maybe that ’ s a sign the advisory industry needs to start fighting back and doing TikTok videos and making financial advice accessible and relevant .” He adds there is nothing wrong with speculating so long as people understand the risks . Social media only gives one side of the story : the big wins , not the occasions when investors lose it all . This helps foster unrealistic ideas about potential returns and a short-term culture . But young investors chasing quick wins don ’ t want to be told to buy and hold boring , steady assets . Long-term investing has an image problem . “ This trading culture is creating views of money that will take some effort to break down ,” says Wardle . “ Sensible investing is not fun , fast and easy . It takes effort , accountability and discipline and is more like watching paint dry .” She wonders if self-appointed social media stock gurus will be as able to deal with their losses as they are to crow about their gains if it all comes crashing down . For those investors and the wider industry which will need to attract today ’ s young traders as tomorrow ’ s clients , she says it may be “ a car crash waiting to happen ”.
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