Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has caught the spotlight — and some scrutiny — with its strategy to give advisors more access to social media.
The company, a Morgan Stanley joint venture with Citigroup Inc., made waves last month when it disclosed that it is giving its advisors expanded use of social media, allowing them to use LinkedIn Corp.'s LinkedIn and Twitter Inc. to market themselves. But there was a catch: For now, advisors are allowed to use only canned Tweets and status updates. Advisors will be able to choose from a library of preapproved messages, which will often include links to research, videos and other content.
At a social media conference in New York Thursday, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney was the center of attention with an audience of marketing officers from an array of financial services firms firing questions at its director of social media, Lauren Boyman.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has caught some flak for the limited way it is letting advisors use the sites for now, and Boyman said at the conference that she has gotten a bit of push back on this from advisors. She said the company would eventually like to let advisors create their own messages, but until then she is pointing out that using preapproved messages will save advisors a lot of work.
"Instead of having to think about, 'What am I going to say today on social media?' they'll be able to select something and make it a very turnkey experience," Boyman said.
Social media is a hot topic in the brokerage industry because firms are still figuring out how to open up these potential game-changing networking opportunities to advisors without violating restrictive regulations covering communications with clients.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's rivals have contested the company's claim that it is the first major wealth management company to roll out social media for advisors in this way. That debate aside, it is clear that Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has been the most vocal about social media lately.
At the conference, it received credit for being a trendsetter even though that means it could attract scrutiny from regulators, who have yet to release explicit rules for how financial-services companies can use social media. Both rulemakers and companies have been struggling with how to apply old rules to this new way of communicating, noted Chad Bockius, chief executive of Socialware, sponsor of the conference.
Another difficulty has been opening up Facebook to advisors. This site tends to be much more personal than LinkedIn, and many advisors may not want their business contacts to see snapshots from their weekends.
Boyman said Morgan Stanley Smith Barney isn't rolling out use of Facebook yet specifically because of this blurred line between what is personal and what is professional. She said Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is actively looking at how to open up the site to advisors, but Facebook is currently blocked on the company's systems.
Boyman predicted that social-media sites will overtake traditional types of prospecting. Boyman also said Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is working to find a way to track if new accounts are opened due to social media.
