The TikTok logo is pictured in front of the company’s US headquarters in Culver City, California, the United States, September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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NEW YORK, May 12 (Reuters) – As money-focused TikTok accounts garner a huge following, stodgy financial firms are squeezing into youth-centric social media platforms to take some of the action.
Independent “FinTok” influencers like Mark Tilbury (@marktilbury, 7 million followers), Humphrey Yang (@humphreytalks, 3.3 million), Tori Dunlap (@herfirst100k, 2.1 million), and Erika Kullberg (@erikakullberg, 8, 4 million) have those billion viewers -dollar money managers can only dream of.
For serious financial firms, that means learning a new language from scratch: speaking in bite-sized clips with a quality visual style to share lessons in a vivid and engaging way.
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That’s quite a challenge with investment concepts that aren’t “fun” like retirement savings, diversification, and compound interest.
Boston-based wealth manager Fidelity is among the first financial giants to dip their toes into TikTok. Since creating his @fidelity account in June 2021, he has amassed over 14,000 followers and nearly half a million likes.
“You have very little time to engage people with complex issues, and that’s challenging,” said Kelly Lannan, Fidelity’s senior vice president of emerging clients.
“But TikTok has been great because we know that’s where the next generation of customers is. So many individuals, especially younger audiences, go there for information – even before they go to their own family members.”
When Wells Fargo & Co asked kids where they learned how to manage money, 35% responded with social media. This can be good or bad: it may pique their interest and curiosity, but the lessons may not be right.
When investment manager T. Rowe Price asked kids about assets they would invest in, 57% chose cryptocurrency, 38% chose traditional stocks, 22% chose meme stocks, and 21% chose NFTs.
That probably reflects the headlines they see, which can present a distorted reality.
BLACKROCK JOINS THE FIGHT
Wealth managers can teach young investors rational money behavior and how to build long-term portfolios.
BlackRock, the first $10 trillion public money manager, is working to earn their trust and @blackrock has gained around 2,300 followers so far.
“TikTok is the other end of the spectrum from the 20-page white papers, which we’re very good at producing,” laughed Rich Latour, global head of content at BlackRock.
“But we need to appeal to this next generation of investors, with the manufacturing values they’re used to, and help them wade through all the financial misinformation out there.”
Since FinTok is like its own language, BlackRock and Fidelity have suggested some figures who already know the jargon – younger employees, some of whom have personal TikTok accounts and know what content is resonating with users.
Typical BlackRock tariffs include popular themes such as “3 Tips for Retirement”, “High Inflation”, “Why Pay Taxes?”. and “ETFs Explained”.
Fidelity uses a lot of food metaphors as everyone seems to have an appetite for it. One of the most popular posts with over 12.6 million views: a description of how fractional investing works with the image of a pie.
As Fidelity and BlackRock are TikTok newbies, both are working to build partnerships with FinTok influencers with massive integrated audiences. Many other financial institutions seem less secure.
But the eyeballs are convincing: Posts with the hashtag #investing have already garnered 6.5 billion views, according to a TikTok spokesman.
Even the youngest users of the platform will eventually become working adults with investment accounts, and the country’s largest wealth managers may have little choice but to enter the FinTok world.
“Not only do I think more companies will come on board, I think we all have a responsibility to be a part of it,” said Fidelity’s Lannan.
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Edited by Lauren Young and Richard Chang Follow us on @ReutersMoney or below http://www.reuters.com/finance/personal-finance.
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