Nerd’s Eye View creator Michael Kitces, Morningstar’s Christine Benz and the Wall Street Journal’s Jason Zweig were the top vote-getters in Finfluential’s first ever Centers of Finfluence survey, as we announced last week. But what else did we learn?
Many financial services professionals consider influencers important in their professional lives
Those surveyed cited a wide range of finfluencers that are important to them
Advisors seem to look to influencers to help them develop their practices more so than to outsmart financial markets
Our first ever survey reflected a meaningful sample, but any “cross-tabs” of respondents will be small and should be taken with a grain of salt
The importance of finfluencers
Nearly half of respondents said finfluencers are moderately, very, or extremely important to their professional work, while only 14% said they are unimportant. The breakdown was similar among advisors
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While the survey population may not be representative of financial services as a whole—after all, these individuals clicked on a survey about finfluencers—it was still instructive to see that so many financial industry participants consider finfluencers to be a meaningful part of their professional lives, not just frivolous distractions they check up on during their lunch break.
The breadth of finfluence
Kitces received the most nods, while Benz and Zweig tied for second;. They were followed by:
Daily Upside editor Sean Allocca;
Prolific personal finance author Morgan Housel;
Annuity expert David Lau;
Future Proof founder Matt Middleton;
CNBC anchor and New York Times business editor Andrew Ross Sorkin;
JP Morgan Asset Management strategist David Kelly, and;
Schwab economist Liz Sonders
Respondents wrote in names of more than a dozen-and-a-half finfluencers who were not on the original ballot.
Advisors look for practical advice
The respondents who identified themselves as advisors lean toward finfluencers who can help them build their practices and provide better planning and retirement advice to clients.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kitces was even more popular with intermediaries than with the overall universes of respondents, with 17.5% placing the advisor guru in the top three. Benz, who spends much of her time focused on retirement issues, was the next most popular among advisors.
While it should be taken with an extra grain of salt due to the small sample size, JP Morgan’s Kelly, CNBC’s Ross-Sorkin, and market-savvy Bloomberg opinion columnist Matt Levine were most popular among respondents working in asset management.
Thank you
Our sincere thanks to all who participated in this year’s survey; we hope to see you again next year at the Center of Finfluence.