How advisers are turning social media followers into clients

"A lot of people aren’t sure where to go, or they don’t know what to look for, when I turn around and say I am one. Someone the other day said, ‘I had an inheritance not too long ago but I just didn’t know where to go, so it’s just sat in my bank account. We’ll have to have a chat.’ I wasn’t expecting it at all.

"Going out there with a bit more of a relaxed approach is what I think the next generation likes. They don’t like to be hounded, they like a genuine connection.”

Showing that I was a real person and I’m relatable seemed to be the turning point.Chanelle Pattinson, IFA

Ellie Dickens, business development assistant at Informed Financial Planning, agrees on the importance of financial advice being accessible where millennials and generation Z spend most of their time.

Dickens is one of six young employees at Informed Financial Planning, which manages its offshoot service Informed Generation, which launched last year and aims to “debunk the myth” that advice is exclusively aimed at high-net-worth individuals and people over 50.

The intention is clear in the website’s tone of voice, with blog posts such as ‘Ethical investing? What on God’s green earth is that?’ and ‘Money management for dummies’.

“Advisers need to rethink how they are pitching their services,” says Dickens. “Countless firms still advertise towards those thinking about retiring, or perhaps have large amounts sat in the bank or in investments.

“Younger generations’ priorities have changed. Getting a house, getting married and starting a family is not necessarily the order in which people do things nowadays, nor is it as high on the to-do list for some as it was for their parents.”

“Informed Generation is geared up predominantly as an education service,” adds Josh Richardson, chartered financial planner at Informed Financial Planning. “Yes, it’s designed to assist people to set up financial products but we will also be teaching the younger generation what their plans can help them achieve now and in the future.”

Countless firms still advertise towards those thinking about retiring.Ellie Dickens, Informed Financial Planning

Pete Matthew, managing director of Jacksons Wealth Management, is another financial planner who has broadened into the realm of financial education. Matthew started Meaningful Money in 2010, which now includes a podcast as well as a YouTube channel, primarily to reach more people than he could one-to-one.

His most successful video to date – ‘Pay off your mortgage or invest?’ – which Matthew posted to the channel in December has accumulated more than 290,000 views. “I had about 15,000 subscribers before that,” he says. “Now I’m at over 48,000.”