Hoping to create a standard around what determines social "success," BrightScope released Tuesday its Social Influence Rank for financial advisors, recognizing the 100 advisors who the San Diego-based research firm believes are industry leaders that are influencing the online realm.
"We believe that more and more advisors are going to win more business online, so not having the standard of what 'good' is, or what 'success' is in terms of online marketing is a mistake," Mike Alfred, co-founder and CEO of BrightScope, told ThinkAdvisor.
"By shining a light on social media best practices within the financial services industry, BrightScope hopes more professionals will actively use all types of communications tools to benefit themselves and investors," Alfred says, especially in light of the Securities and Exchange Commission's recent guidance clarifying advisors' use of testimonials on social media.
The BrightScope Social Influence Rank aggregates information on advisors actively engaging with current and prospective clients using digital media channels and measures how their efforts stack up against their peers. Advisors who made the list "are models of how to use social media to grow a successful advisory business and a personal brand in the marketplace," says BrightScope, which is best known for its rankings of retirement plans.
Alfred says that the proprietary algorithm takes into account all platforms used by advisors, such as Twitter, blogs and appearances at industry events, to determine "how influential" an advisor is.
"We tried to look across the spectrum of what we believe drives online influence," Alfred said. "It's our first stab at it; It's our best foot forward on what we think has a real influence online."
Log on to your Twitter pages and follow BrightScope's top 10 social media influencers listed in the pages that follow.
10. Jeff Rose
Blog: Good Financial Cents
Twitter Handle: @jjeffrose
CEO of Alliance Wealth Management, Rose's tell-all, no-nonsense and playful approach in describing himself on his blog should give clients a pretty good indication of the advisor they're dealing with:
"Most financial advisors like to use BIG fancy words like beta, standard deviation, and upside capture ratio.
(rant: seriously… upside capture what?)
These BIG words make we want to puke because 99.9% of the population could care less."
Says Rose: "I'm a self-proclaimed numbers geek. I even began the wooing of my future wife by offering to show her how to use a financial calculator. True story.
I talk about money issues A LOT on this blog. Do I have credentials? You betcha!"
9. Cullen Roche
Blog: Pragmatic Capitalism
Twitter Handle: @cullenroche
With 17,000 Twitter followers, Roche, founder of Orcam Financial Group, says that people often ask him why he writes. Here's an excerpt of his answer:
"I think it's important for you to know why I write it so here is why:
I learn a huge amount from writing. I don't know everything and I write in large part because I am trying to solve what I view as a huge puzzle. I used to spend a lot of time engaged in office debates about the various facets of the markets, money and finance. I was always trying to find answers. Why does money matter? Why do we care about material wealth? Why do we idolize Warren Buffett? How does all of this fit into our lives and our search for happiness?I have an insatiable curiosity and a borderline obsessive compulsive mentality where, when I want an answer, I can't stop until I find it."
Twitter Handle: @feeonlyplanner
An independent fee-only certified financial planner and CPA based in Novi, Mich., Papadopoulos touts on his Twitter page that he provides "top quality personal finance advice" and that he's a Wall Street Journal Expert panelist.
His most recent WSJ blog posts include Why You Should Be Wary of Investing 'Gurus' and Why I'm Skeptical About MyRAs. He also says not to lose sleep over high-frequency trading, as "in general, high-frequency trading mostly affects institutional investors."
7. Charles Sizemore
Blog: Sizemore Insights
Twitter Handle: @CharlesSizemore
Based in Dallas, Sizemore is the founder and editor of Macro Trend Investor (formerly The Sizemore Investment Letter), and the chief investment officer of Sizemore Capital, an RIA.
In Sizemore's most recent blog posts he tackles "China's Mother Shortage." In the immediate term, he writes:
"I am a major China bull and I am long China via the iShares MSCI China Large Cap ETF and the DB X-Trackers Harvest China ETF. But China's future looks bleak. I would go so far as to say China has no future. …China's population of women of prime childbearing age (25-29) goes into steep decline starting next year."
6. Russ Thornton
Blog: Wealthcare for Women
Twitter Handle: @RussThornton
The tagline for Thornton's blog, Wealthcare for Women, reads "Lifestyle Financial Planning — Because Life's Not a Rehearsal."
In introducing himself on his blog, Thornton tells visitors that he's been delivering personal financial advice for over 20 years, and that he "helps women live the life they want without fear of ever running out of money."
