Cost of Living5:14The rise of the ‘finfluencer’
If you’ve ever wondered how to navigate the stock market, build a budget or plan for retirement, your first stop might’ve once been a parent, a trusted friend or an advisor at the bank.
But, increasingly, Canadians are tapping into a different source: “finfluencers,” or online creators who make engaging, easy-to-understand videos about budgeting, investing and even cryptocurrency.
A recent survey by the Ontario Securities Commission surveying 655 Canadian retail investors — people who manage their own investments — found that 91 per cent use social media. Furthermore, 35 per cent say they’ve acted on financial advice from a finfluencer.
People who follow these influencers say they offer a fresh and relatable way to become financially literate — but the trend has financial experts concerned, leading to regulatory efforts around the world.
Financial education that’s not too serious
Joyee Yang, a 26-year-old finfluencer from Toronto, has amassed a combined following of more than 300,000 across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
Since she first started posting two and a half years ago, Yang has found an audience by making financial knowledge more accessible to young people.
“I think a lot of people crave financial education in a way where it’s not too serious — like, I can’t imagine 18-year-old me or 19-year old me walking in to see a financial advisor,” Yang told Cost of Living.
“But I will scroll on TikTok, on Instagram or I will just log into YouTube, pause whenever I need to, take notes whenever I need to and Google questions on the side if I need to — I think it’s the future of learning for Gen Zs.”
Yang is upfront with her followers about her lack of formal training in finance. Instead of credentials, she says she leans on lived experience.
According to a 2024 survey by the Canadian Securities Administrators, more Canadians are investing on their own. Forty-five per cent of investors have self-directed accounts and 30 per cent of those were opened within the preceding two years.
Access to knowledge
Al Zhang, a high school math teacher based in Fort McMurray, Alta., began following finfluencers to grow his income shortly after landing his first job in 2022.
“I was like, ‘OK, I saved some money in my bank account, but how can I make that money work for myself?'” he said. “You usually hear about investing, but no one really tells you how you should do it.”
For many young Canadians like Zhang, rising living costs have sparked a hunger for financial autonomy.
“Like most young adults like myself, they don’t really see a good certainty in their future — some of us are like, ‘OK we’re only getting paid this much, how can we build a future for ourselves?'” said Zhang.
As many young Canadians grapple with the rising cost of living, some are turning to the sharing economy as a way to save money on housing, transportation and even clothes.
Getting personalized support
Still, some financial experts warn that professional advice shouldn’t be replaced by social media clips.
Alex Williams, senior vice-president of strategy, innovation and stakeholder protection at the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization, stresses that professional advisors continue to play a crucial role.
Licensed advisers can tailor strategies to an individual’s unique financial goals, risk tolerance and life circumstances, she said. Finfluencers, says Williams, don’t operate under the same standards.
“Really approach with caution, and think about what they say … always be thinking about your own situation when you’re actually making the investment yourself.”
Sam Lichtman, a certified financial planner and founder of Millen Wealth Advisors, also warns that unlike certified advisers, finfluencers aren’t legally accountable for their advice, which can lead to exaggerated pitches promising the “best stocks” and unrealistic returns.
“Those type of comments, which are so casually flipped through on the finfluencer side, are completely offside for people who are registered and licensed,” said Lichtman.
Have a critical lens
Errol Osecki, an assistant accounting professor at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management, is researching finfluencers and their impact. He says their influence often stems from a parasocial relationship, or a one-way connection where viewers feel like they know an influencer personally.
“These are developed over social media … you can build a lot of trust,” said Osecki.
But he says it’s also important to remember that influencers make money from views — so their content is designed to grab attention and often includes sponsored posts.
Even if they feel like a friend, he says, it’s important to remember they have a financial incentive, so you should take their advice “with a grain of salt.”
Unlike advice from family or close friends — whose motivations and background you can typically understand — it’s harder to gauge the credibility of an online figure.
“Treat this the same way you should be treating any online information. Use the same tools that you would try to protect yourself against misinformation in all social media.”
Creating co-existence
In June, regulators from six jurisdictions including Canada launched a co-ordinated campaign to crack down on illegal financial promotions from rogue influencers.
Their actions ranged from issuing in-person warnings alongside law enforcement to launching consumer awareness campaigns.
But with the sheer volume of content being produced, enforcement is a challenge.
“It’s thousands of hours each week, so how do you police that? How do you regulate that as a government on an individual level?” Osecki said.
He believes platforms like TikTok and Instagram should shoulder more responsibility, whether that’s requiring them to prevent scam content or show that they remove it when detected.
For Yang, she hopes the financial world can embrace both influencers and traditional professionals.
“I think the bigger the finfluencers grow, the more tight the restrictions will get,” she said. “Hopefully, we can both just kind of exist, right? There are people who fundamentally just do not trust advice online at all, and there are people who will not invest because they just won’t walk into a corporation to get a financial advisor.
“So, hopefully, both sides are being serviced.”
