Rob Mason: Do advisers know the risks of LinkedIn? – Money Marketing

For many financial advisers, LinkedIn has become as essential as email. It’s where prospects are researched, introductions made, market views shared and relationships nurtured over time. A post here, a comment there, a quick message in response to a client’s question – all perfectly above board.
Yet, as advisers increasingly use LinkedIn to win new clients, maintain existing relationships, share market or retirement-planning commentary, and move conversations into direct messages, the line between professional networking and regulated communication is becoming dangerously blurred – often without advisers even realising it.
LinkedIn has come a long way since its public launch in 2003. What started out as a hiring tool has evolved into a major networking site and business communication channel used by more than a billion professionals.
It can feel like the least ‘risky’ social-media platform because it’s grounded in the professional sphere. But, from a regulatory standpoint, it can carry very real – and growing – risks.
Global Relay’s Communications Capture Trends Report 2025/26 found that, while nearly a quarter of financial services institutions (23%) now capture data from employees’ personal LinkedIn accounts, only 9% of investment management and advisory firms do the same.
The result is a widening compliance gap. LinkedIn is now firmly part of the off-channel landscape, and advisory firms need a more deliberate approach to how they supervise, capture and govern what happens there.
When convenience becomes a risk
It’s a scene that will be familiar for many – you’ve just finished a client review and are heading out the door. Later that evening, the client sends a LinkedIn message asking a follow-up question about markets, or referencing something you posted earlier in the week.
As LinkedIn becomes increasingly embedded into our professional lives, so does the compliance risk it presents
You reply quickly from your phone. It feels informal, convenient and entirely harmless. But depending on the response, that interaction could constitute a regulated communication – one that needs to be retained, supervised and retrieved should it be requested.
As LinkedIn becomes increasingly embedded into our professional lives, so does the compliance risk it presents. Unlike channels such as Teams or email, LinkedIn messages aren’t always captured. That creates a significant blind spot for recordkeeping obligations, leaving businesses without a full audit trail of conversations that should be monitored.
All of this blurs the line between personal and regulated activity, and firms can easily be found lacking.
Commentary, endorsement, or advice?
For advisers, the risk isn’t limited to private messages. Public activity can be just as problematic.
A market update shared after a volatile week. A ‘like’ on a third-party post discussing portfolio positioning. A comment congratulating a fund manager on performance. None of these are intended as recommendations – but intent doesn’t always matter. In the wrong context, they can be interpreted as endorsements or financial promotions.
To monitor conduct effectively, firms will need complete communication records data, and that includes LinkedIn activity
This is where advisers can unknowingly expose themselves and their firms. Unlike email or approved marketing materials, LinkedIn content is often spontaneous. And, unlike firm-controlled channels, it isn’t always captured or supervised. That creates a record-keeping gap at precisely where regulators expect stronger oversight.
Increasing scrutiny
In the UK, while the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has ruled out a U.S.-style clampdown on off-channel communications, it has renewed its focus on employee behaviour and company culture.
Its non-financial misconduct rules and expectations will extend requirements that currently apply to banks to an additional 37,000 non-bank firms, including wealth and asset managers. To monitor conduct effectively, firms will need complete communication records data, and that includes LinkedIn activity.
At the same time, regulations such as the FCA’s Consumer Duty and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Marketing Rule mean that anything individuals or firms post, share, or endorse online must be accurate, fair and compliant.
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Even a casual comment can potentially be construed as investment advice or a form of marketing communication, and that opens the door to regulatory scrutiny.
Control, not prohibition
A hundred years on from the introduction of prohibition in the US, we have plenty of historic examples of the ineffectiveness of a blanket ban.
Banning a channel like LinkedIn simply isn’t realistic. It plays a fundamental role in networking, marketing, client engagement and talent acquisition. Instead, best practice centres on visibility and control, giving firms the oversight they need without stifling the platform’s legitimate business value.
The first step is ensuring that business-related LinkedIn messages, whether sent through personal profiles or company pages, are compliantly captured. For many firms, that now includes monitoring individual accounts where appropriate. Not because they want to police behaviour, but because regulators increasingly expect that level of accountability.
LinkedIn has proven itself to be a powerful tool. But, like any widely used channel, it also has the potential for misuse
It’s natural for advisers to worry that capturing LinkedIn conversations could give employers visibility into personal activity. But, in practice, compliant capture isn’t designed to track individual activities. Its purpose is to meet regulatory record-keeping obligations for business-related interactions.
Clear policies for social media use are also essential. Advisers must understand what is appropriate to post, share or endorse, and where the line sits between personal opinion, networking conversation and regulated business communication or advertising material.
LinkedIn has proven itself to be a powerful tool for financial advisers. But, like any widely used channel, it also has the potential for misuse. Firms need the visibility to manage risk, uphold regulatory expectations and ensure that there is accountability on the platform.
In a landscape where financial advice is increasingly sought after on LinkedIn, its regulatory obligations must follow.
Rob Mason is director, regulatory intelligence, at Global Relay
There are 1 comments at the moment, we would love to hear your opinion too.
Is this site any better than all the other venal, corruptible social meeja sites?
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