“Fund managers traditionally have been against the growth of ETFs - they feared it would disintermediate them from the end customer because of its accessibility,” said one sell-side ETF trader. Social media firms are planning to break into financial services by offering an emerging sub-sector of young, tech-savvy consumers a new way to invest. Snapchat is understood to be one of the firms developing robo-advisory technology to enable users to click-and-invest directly into financial products, such as ETFs, via smartphone apps. Other social media platforms including Instagram's Instar and Twitter are also understood to have been approached to financial service industry players to develop similar services, however, their response is not clear. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned that it will consider whether or not to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges in light of recent developments around ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings). massive user bases are perceived to be a major advantage that could enable them to engage with consumers and grow at a much faster pace than start-up digital wealth managers like Betterment that have had to grow users organically. Personal budgeting and savings apps such as Mint are also understood to be working on adding robo-advisory services to their platforms.
Social media firms are planning to break into financial services by offering an emerging sub-sector of young, tech-savvy consumers a new way to invest. Snapchat is understood to be one of the firms developing robo-advisory technology to enable users to click-and-invest directly into financial products, such as ETFs, via smartphone apps. Other social media platforms including Instagram's Instar and Twitter are also understood to have been approached to financial service industry players to develop similar services, however, their response is not clear. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned that it will consider whether or not to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges in light of recent developments around ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings). massive user bases are perceived to be a major advantage that could enable them to engage with consumers and grow at a much faster pace than start-up digital wealth managers like Betterment that have had to grow users organically. Personal budgeting and savings apps such as Mint are also understood to be working on adding robo-advisory services to their platforms.