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Move Over, LinkedIn: Social Media Site For

Fund Pros Launches

By Jackie Noblett May 15, 2013

A new social media platform for the financial services industry aims to help advisors and asset

managers connect in a controlled and compliant fashion.

Finect made its U.S. beta debut at the end of April to complement its similar social network in

Europe, launched in 2010. The European version posts a membership of 50,000 and includes the

participation of several asset managers, including Fidelity Worldwide, Putnam, Henderson

Global Investors and BBVA Asset Management.

Financial advisors and asset managers can set up pages to distribute information about

themselves to users of Finect and other social media sites like LinkedIn and Twitter. They can

also set up public or private groups to share information and content, much like LinkedIn.

Social media is an increasingly important channel for fund firms to interact with advisors. Some

90% of advisors surveyed by American Century earlier this year have a social media site, with

40% using social media for business purposes multiple times a week.

Despite recognition of the power of social media, the control and compliance aspects of using the

platforms remain a major barrier for fund firms, says Jennifer Openshaw, president of Finect.

“This platform allows them to use social media in many ways, including connecting to the other

three platforms, and still be compliant,” she says.

Compliance is a big part of Finect’s offering. It worked with former Fidelity deputy general

counsel and current K&L Gates partner Stuart Fross to develop a compliance module that allows

individuals to track and record social media content as well as export compliance reports in

accordance with SEC and Finra rules.

The site also uses its relationship with information vendor Discovery Data to vet the credentials

of members purporting to be financial professionals. This helps asset managers comply with

rules around communications with such professionals, Openshaw says.

Employee monitoring and control is another major obstacle to social media acceptance that

Finect is looking to alleviate. The platform can give employers a way to set up social media

accounts for employees on the platform and control the sort of content they can create or share

that is associated with the company.

This could be used as a way for fund firms to recognize their employees’ desire to engage in

social media for business purposes yet still monitor it effectively, says Theresa Hamacher,

president of Nicsa and a member of Finect’s advisory committee.

“One of the practical challenges is you’ve got all of these venues and all of these different places

and the physical management of this is difficult. Finect pulls it all together in a unique package

with a compliance module so you can say, ‘We do want you to do social media but we want you

to do this through Finect,’” she says.

But it is a challenge for a new social network to reach critical mass and find a home in a

saturated market, some industry experts say.

“I definitely understand the rationale and I respect the effort, but it’s going to be an uphill

climb,” says Pat Allen, founder of Rock the Boat Marketing. “There is a kind of membership

fatigue; how many networks can you join? There has to be something compelling.”

Openshaw says Finect has many characteristics that differentiate it from other social media

platforms, including business-minded LinkedIn, while also being a thoroughfare to syndicate

content across those other mediums.

For example, with Finect, fund firms will soon be able to create a library of educational content

connected to the company page, says Openshaw. Individuals and fund firms can set up groups to

discuss financial topics, from products to investing themes. And information and commentary

about a particular product or theme is searchable.

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