SOCIALMEDIASTUDIES 2016

SOCIAL MEDIA THRIVES IN THE ASSET MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY DESPITE A PATCHY REGULATORY FRAMEWORK In keeping with the growing ubiquity of social media, the presence of asset managers on social networks has increased compared to 2013. They are using these channels as instruments to enhance brand and reputation, as well as to provide information and support to a diversified array of interlocutors such as end-investors, distributors and finan- cial advisors. As in 2013, social media channels today continue to be considered by asset management firms as portals to gain greater visibility among the investor community, deliver their views on market movements and enhance their reputation as opinion leaders and reliable sources of information within the financial services (FS) industry.

Social media is also becoming an important source of information for institutional investors. They are increasingly augmenting traditional financial news media with social media in order to make investment decisions. A recent global study by Greenwich Associates showed that nearly a third of institutional investors made an investment decision based on information gathered on social media platforms in 2014. Also, 44% of them affirmed that they sought educational content on these platforms to better inform themselves about investments, and 33% used social media to research asset managers and recommendations for investment products 12 . Furthermore, the use of social media has increased signifi- cantly within the hedge fund industry in recent years, and now 90% of hedge funds is using social media, particularly LinkedIn and Twitter, to enhance marketing campaigns and prospect new investors 13 . Today, there are various big data tools to help asset managers mitigate the risks connected to the information sent out from both corporate and personal accounts. However, the asset management industry is still facing the uncertainty of a heterogeneous and evolving regulatory framework concerning social media at country level. In this regard, regulatory constraints continue to drive the way asset managers interact with their customer base on social platforms and, thus, are shaping promotional practices and record-keeping processes.

“Socia medi become medi b itself, an i i th onl too companie hav toda t communicat o dail -basi wit their client ”. Spokesperso fro Amund Asse Managemen

7 Altimeter, The 2015 State of Social Business: Priorities Shift from Scaling to Integrating, 2015 8 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, The 2015 Inc. 500 and Social Media, 2016 9 The CMO Survey, 2016

10 Millennial Branding, The Millennial Consumer Study, 2015 11 Pew Research, Social Media Usage: 2005-2015, 2015 12 Greenwich Associates, Institutional Investing: How Social Media Informs and Shapes the Investing Process, 2015 13 Agecroft Partners, The use of Social Media by Hedge Funds, 2014

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