Bloggers, Youtubers and Podcasters Giving Financial Advice

I know zilch about which finfluencer has the largest following or not. Don't know who they are anyway. Is ASIC going down the path of cracking a walnut with a sledgehammer because of a few rogues - who may not necessarily be rogues?

 

I have lost money in the past using a Financial Planners (eg. Navra etc). I don't dwell on these losses as have made more money than I have ever lost.

I recently contacted a well established FP firm in Perth as I had a few specific questions I wanted answered. I was happy to pay a premium for the answers, but was told this was not possible. Instead, I had to have an initial consultation and SOA (~$1000) before I could meet and have my any other questions answered.

Needless to say I got my answers and confirmation from an alternate source.

The bottom line is regulations no longer make access to a licensed adviser easy or affordable to the average person.

 

Yes it is a silly system but these influencers have been breaking the law for years.

 

The US is backing Aussie critical minerals projects, and these ASX mining shares could be set to reap the rewards

How does ASIC consider an article like this then (random Motley Foll Au selection)

Author

SBowen’s Profile

Job Title: Freelance Writer

Many online articles border on Advice, Opinion, Guidance, or just reporting the news

Finfluencers: BNPL ads more dangerous than us

 

FinTok: Regulating the social media finance influencer

Financial advice has evolved to include “fintok”. Here’s what you need to be aware of when receiving advice from social media finance influencers.

Lack of concern

For the moment, the Federal Government doesn’t appear too concerned.

In a speech to the Stockbrokers and Financial Advisors annual conference earlier this year (reported in The Australian Financial Review), finance services minister Jane Hume said, “The TikTok influencer spruiking Nokia is not that different to the bloke down at the pub who wants to tell you all about the really great company he just invested in – but with a much louder voice.

“This isn’t financial advice, but as has been the case since taxi drivers started giving stock tips, it is an inevitable part of a financial ecosystem.”

Trading volumes

Dr Angel Zhong, senior lecturer in finance in RMIT University’s School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, strongly disagrees with this assessment.

“First, fin-fluencers do it more loudly and they have a much greater audience compared to someone at a pub,” she says, noting that they also get paid as content creators for posting on social media platforms.

“The bloke at the pub talking about an investment – he doesn't do it for money. He's just doing it for fun or telling his friends, so their motivation is different.”

 

Honestly it's incredibly difficult to take the system seriously when no license is required to recommend crypto or real property, but if you you recommend a bank account you can be fined or worse. ffs.

 

“Anti-Robinhood” trading platform Pearler,

Wasn't Robinhood someone who stole from the rich to give to the poor. If so what is an anti-Robinhood?

 

Start with the premise that marketing is the art of persueding the masses that black is white and then make your own decision.

Many people are attracted to products and services that align with their personal values. Pearler addresses a nieche in that regard. Have no idea why they call it a "social platform" though - I think that bit is quite silly.

Objectivly though 1. the autoinvest feature and 2. ease of access in managing a collection of accounts (say for a family group) is great. I would like to see those features on other platforms.

If I could combine features of pearler/M1 finance, stake, nab equitybuilder, interactivebrokers and passiv.com into a single product then.... there would still be things I'd want.....but maybe less so for a little while ....

 

Allegedly. But maybe not.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights | IMDb

 

How about this

https://equitymates.com/disclaimer/

 

It says their company is not licensed. I wonder what the book covers, it seems to cover investing in shares.

 

Last week ASIC called around 30-40 inst-affluencers using FB, YouTube etc into a private closed door meeting. They all basically got told to shut their sites OR obtain a AFSL. ASIC will now obviously sit back and monitor and prosecute anyone who thinks it was April Fools joke. ASIC are reported to have indicated they are taking a far more rigid view than before.

Finfluencers’ bid early goodbye after private ASIC briefing

 

Satire News Page

Man Who Gets ASX Tips Of Social Media Not Sure Where It All Went Wrong

West Leedy man, Ben, had to deal with the harsh realisation today that he ****** away almost all of his early accessed superannuation on stocks he got from random flogs online.

Frequenting Reddit, HotCopper and Facebook, Ben would be easily swayed by the pump & dump up-rampers that convinced him the stocks were a sure thing.

However, a series of poorly thought-out investments has left Ben significantly in the red. So much so, he can barely bring himself to open up his IG trading account.

Ben was angrily nursing a glass of scotch – which he adopted as part of his delusional wolf of the ASX image when he made 15% on a day’s play. He told The Times,

“I did everything right. I didn’t waste my time learning fundamental analysis. All those graphs may as well be tea leaves I was told. I also didn’t waste my time reading through company announcements. A good trader trades on feel, you see”

 

Is property considered a financial product anyway?

 

no

 

Many who sell property cross over however and can misrepresent that they are giving financial advice when projections are made esp those that involve tax and incomes and growth etc. This then may be a issue for financial planning services, rather than product. Same as they easily can overstep credit licensing. Many of them do use collaborate teams to avoid this but that can also be a conflict.

eg Fred the property seller introduces his colleague Jane who is a broker. Jane works for the same entity or has a solid reliance on leads shared with Fred. Jane may be inclined to not say certain things that could indicate the property Fred is showing isnt in the clients best interests. Wise to consider independence in all such processes. One very common example is Jane suggests that the borrowers draw equity out of other property. She may do this as it enhances total borrowing AND may also allow a poor valuation to be covered by the other cashout. Jane says nothing and the borrowers have no idea its a poor valuation.

 

I wondered who Aussie Finfluencers are

82k on TikTok: Who are Australia’s top money influencers?

Finfluencers say they're empowering a generation. But not everyone's convinced

 

The bold bit pretty much cuts out everything?

These young investors don’t want ‘finfluencers’ to go