This document summarizes a webcast about how social media influences institutional investors. It found that nearly all institutional investors and asset managers use digital resources for investing. About half have used social media, with LinkedIn being most popular. Social media is gaining influence, with many investors and managers saying it has impacted their decisions or research. The webcast panel will discuss the findings and implications, including opportunities for asset managers to provide useful insights to investors on social platforms.
2. Emily Friedman
Research Consultant
LinkedIn
Ken Poliziani
Managing Director,
Head of Institutional Marketing
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Dan Connell
Managing Director
Greenwich Associates
Jennifer Grazel
Head of Category Development
Financial Services
LinkedIn
3. To what extent are digital resources gaining traction as
sources of financial information?
How is social media being leveraged for insights during
the institutional investing process?
What has social media influenced so far, and where are key
opportunities for influence moving forward?
1
2
3
3
Questions to Answer
Base: Institutional investors and Institutional Asset Managers on LinkedIn, qualified by age and DM status.
4. 4
Methodology
Survey
Online survey fielded
through LinkedIn from
May 28 – June 6, 2014
Sample
Sample of 269
Institutional Asset
Managers and 292
Institutional Investors
(U.S.). *see footnotes
Base: Institutional investors and Institutional Asset Managers on LinkedIn, qualified by age and DM status.
* Institutional Investors composition mix: 77 Foundation/Endowment sector, 73 Insurance
Who
Decision-maker
or influencer on
investment (II) or client
portfolio mix (IAM)
Digital
Use 1+ digital source to
learn about financial
topics relevant to
investing role
6. Nearly all Institutional Investors (IIs) and Asset Managers (IAMs) on LI
use digital resources for investing purposes
6
Used at least one digital research relevant to their role in the past year…
99% 90%
of Institutional Asset Managers
on LinkedIn
of Institutional Investors
on LinkedIn
Base: Institutional investors and Institutional Asset Managers on LinkedIn, qualified by age and DM status.
7. About half of IAMs and IIs have used a social media source for information
relevant to their investing role in the past year
Base: Institutional investors and Institutional Asset Managers on LinkedIn, qualified by age and DM status.
7
41%
14%
24%
9%
12%
31%
20%
9%
14%
11%
LinkedIn Google+ Twitter Facebook YouTube
Used at least
1 social source
55% of IAMs,
44% of IIs
Social Source │ IAMs Ils
8. 8
About two-thirds of IAMs and IIs who have used LinkedIn
for their role are doing so weekly or more
Among those who have used LI as a source of financial info, % who use weekly or more:
19%
28%
69%
DAILY WEEKLY+ DAILY WEEKLY+
Base: Institutional Asset Managers and Investors on LinkedIn who have used LinkedIn to inform themselves about financial topics relevant to their role
65%
Institutional Asset Managers Institutional Investors
10. 5%
10
IAMs and IIs who use social sources for financial info have
increased this usage over the past year
31%
32%
25%
24%
26%
26%
34%
53%
54%
20%
13%
8%
5%
10%
3%
10%
3%
LinkedIn
Twitter
Financially-oriented news sites
Financially-oriented blogs/discussion forums
Google+
Financial institution/company’s websites or blogs
Financially-oriented niche publications/sites
YouTube
Facebook
Social Source │ Increase Same Decrease
* Financially-oriented / Financial institution or company
Base: IAMs and IIs on LinkedIn who have used each source over the past year to inform themselves about financial topics
11. 1%
5%
5%
12%
4%
11
IAMs and IIs who use social sources for financial info also plan to
increase this usage over the next year
LinkedIn
Twitter
Financially-oriented news sites
Financially-oriented niche publications/sites
Google+
YouTube
Financial institution/company’s websites or blogs
Financially-oriented blogs/discussion forums
Base: IAMs and IIs on LinkedIn who have used each source over the past year to inform themselves about financial topics
28%
24%
24%
30%
30%
25%
32%
45%
47%
14%
5%
9%
0%
Facebook
Social Source │ Increase Same Decrease
12. 12
At least half of all IAMs and IIs on LinkedIn expect to use the
platform to inform their investing by next year
Past year 38% Next year 50%
98%
plan to maintain
or increase
At least 20%
of non-users plan
to start using
Base: Institutional investors and Institutional Asset Managers on LinkedIn who use at least one digital source
13. 13
Social media is already playing an
influential role in investment decisions,
but there is more to come
14. 14
Beyond the mainstays of news and researching companies, IAMs and IIs
are tapping into social for relevant insights
Top purposes cited for using social media (among those who have used in past year):
Institutional Asset Managers
79% Read timely news or market/industry updates
69% Research companies, executives or industries
57% Seek opinions or commentary on markets/events
52% Join groups and observe discussions
49% See how competitors/peers are using social
Base: Institutional investors and Institutional Asset Managers on LinkedIn who use social media for their role
Institutional Investors
71% Read timely news or market/industry updates
59% Seek opinions or commentary on markets/events
59% Seek educational content to inform investing
56% Learn about investment products/services
55% Research financial companies, executives or industries
15. 15
For each of the top purposes for using social, most IAMs are
using LinkedIn, followed by Twitter
Top 5 purposes IAMs use social:
1 2 3 4 5
79%
Read timely news/
market/industry updates
59%
20%
47%
69%
Research companies,
executives/industries
80%
13%
26%
Base: IAMs on LinkedIn who currently turn to social media for each of the following purposes
57%
Seek opinions/commentary
on markets/events
69%
13%
50%
52%
Join groups and
observe discussions
87%
23%
28%
49%
See how competitors/
peers are using social
81%
24%
43%
16. 16
For each of the top purposes for using social, more than twice as many
investors use LinkedIn vs. FB or Twitter
1 2 3 4 5
71%
Read timely news/
market/industry updates
55%
23%
25%
59%
Seek opinions/commentary
on markets/events
64%
22%
24%
Base: IIs on LinkedIn who currently turn to social media for each of the following purposes
59%
Seek educational content
to inform investing
61%
13%
18%
56%
Learn about investment
products/services
56%
13%
19%
55%
Research financial
companies,
executives/industries
66%
19%
18%
Top 5 purposes IIs use social:
17. 17
IAMs have a significant opportunity to influence & provide value to
investors through relevant content
Though IIs who use social for their role are primarily seeking specific types of info/opinions,
most IAMs who leverage social for their role are not yet providing this
Institutional Asset Mgrs.
% posting each on social
Base: Institutional investors and Institutional Asset Managers on LinkedIn who use social media for their role
Institutional Investors
% seeking each on social
21% Market / industry updates 71%
19% Opinions / commentary on market events 59%
18% Investment products / services 56%
20% Service or support 30%
18. 18
Most IAMs/IIs who use social media to inform their investing have learned
something that has influenced decision-making
IAMs Ils
Prompted me to do further research
on an industry issue or topic
79% 69%
Influenced my perspective on
an industry issue or topic
68% 60%
Base: IAMs and IIs on LinkedIn who have used social media to inform themselves about financial topics relevant to their investing role
Shared this information with decision
makers at my company
44% 51%
Led me to consult that social
media source more regularly
52% 41%
Influenced an investment
recommendation or decision
36% 48%
Influenced a decision to work with a
particular company or client
30% 44%
19. 19
48% Nearly half of IIs who use social
This includes nearly half of IIs
media for their role say they have
learned something that has influenced
an investment recommendation or
decision
Base: IAMs and IIs on LinkedIn who have used social media to inform themselves about financial topics relevant to their investing role
20. Emily Friedman
Research Consultant
LinkedIn
Ken Poliziani
Managing Director,
Head of Institutional Marketing
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Dan Connell
Managing Director
Greenwich Associates
Jennifer Grazel
Head of Category Development
Financial Services
LinkedIn
Panel Discussion
We expect these numbers to continue to grow as adoption of content consumption and learning becomse the norm
This is an early trend that will pay dividends through time.
I am more likely to consider a IT Vendor if they have experts publishing content on LinkedIn
I am likely to be more favorable toward an IT Vendor if I see their employees sharing content on LinkedIn
I am likely to be more favorable toward an IT Vendor if I see their employees participating in group discussions on LinkedIn
S4. Which, if any, digital resources have you used in the past year to inform yourself about financial topics relevant to your role in [pipe either “institutional investing” or “institutional asset management”]? Select ALL that apply.
BASE = 273 IAM, 332 II (qualified by age and DM status)
Digital: (270/273=99%; 298/332=90%);
Social: (151/273=55%; 145/332=44%).
S4. Which, if any, digital resources have you used in the past year to inform yourself about financial topics relevant to your role in [pipe either “institutional investing” or “institutional asset management”]? Select ALL that apply.
BASE = 273 IAM, 332 II (qualified by age and DM status)
Digital: (270/273=99%; 298/332=90%);
Social: (151/273=55%; 145/332=44%).
Among all who have used LinkedIn in past year, 69% of IAMs and 65% of IIs use weekly or more, 19% of IAMs and 28% of IIs use daily.
Q: And for each of these digital sources that you use to inform yourself about financial topics, do you expect your usage to increase, decrease, or stay the same over the next year, compared to now?
Net frequency for all 3 groups = 280/561
70/347=20%
210
Q4. [ASK if ASSET MANAGER AND SELECTED AT LEAST 1 A-E in S4] For which of the following purposes have you turned to social media in your role in institutional asset management? Select ALL that apply.
1. Read timely news or market/industry updates (n=119)
2. Research companies, executives or industries (n=104)
3. Seek opinions or commentary on markets/events (n=86)
4. Join groups and observe discussions (n=79)
5. See how competitors/peers are using social (n=74)
Read timely news or market/industry updates (n=101)
2. Seek educational content to inform investing (n=84)
3. Seek opinions or commentary on markets/events (n=85)
4. Learn about investment products/services (n=80)
5. Research financial companies, executives, industries (n=79)
Q5. [ASK if ASSET MANAGER AND SELECTED ANY A-K in Q4] For each of the purposes for which you have turned to social media, please select the social media source(s) you use for this purpose:
Q7. [ASK if INVESTOR AND SELECTED ANY A-I in Q6] For each of the purposes for which you have turned to social media, please select the social media source(s) you use for this purpose:
Institutional investors who use social media for their role are primarily doing so to seek specific types of information to help with investment decisions.
This presents a significant opportunity for Institutional Asset Managers on social media, most of whom are not using social platforms to share the type of information investors seek.
Q9. [ASK if S4= any A-E] Has information that you have learned via social media ever resulted in any of the following? Select ALL that apply.
Q9. [ASK if S4= any A-E] Has information that you have learned via social media ever resulted in any of the following? Select ALL that apply.