Top Broker-Dealers Show Twitter Some Love

Have you noticed how the CEOs of two of the top broker-dealers (LPL and Raymond James) have embraced Twitter in the last several weeks?

As part of my work on AdvisorTweets.com (here’s some background on the site I sold in July 2011), I was closely tracking broker-dealer adoption of social media. Back then, I followed tweeting financial advisors from independent b-ds but I believed that an important step would be for the head honchos and corporate staffs to see Twitter's value.

I’ve been tempted to drop everything and dig into exactly who’s doing what nowadays. I’m controlling myself, I’m not going to go all compilation-crazy now (except, see the bottom of the post). But, the two notes below may pique your interest (and that of your sales and account colleagues).

Knowing that Twitter is an increasingly valued channel for key broker-dealers, what could your firm be doing to fully explore the opportunity?

Engaging LPL Public Profiles

LPL has multiple Twitter accounts, including at least three belonging to people who tweet like people—Chief Market Strategist Jeffrey Kleintop (@JeffreyKleintop), CMO Joan Khoury (@JoanKhoury) and CEO Mark Casady (@MSCasady).

I’ve liked Mark Casady for his human-ness since I knew him from Scudder in the 1990s and see how that translates into what he’s doing with his tweets. Many of his tweets are business-focused, as you would expect. Below I’ve hand-picked three tweets representative of how he’s sharing and engaging.

Even before Scudder, more like 100 years ago, I worked as an investor relations consultant. “Never walk into a client’s office without knowing exactly where the company’s stock price is,” I was told.

Great advice and... If someone in your firm wants to do business with Casady, think of the conversational advantage he or she would have just by following him (or really any financial advisor or business contact) on Twitter. (And, of course, there are CRM implications for those ready to get systematic about it—for more on that, here’s an early post on the subject.) 

Raymond James Focuses On What’s To Be Learned

Raymond James corporate has been building up its Twitter accounts, too, with individual accounts also focusing on research, recruiting and special initiatives. It’s not CEO Scott Curtis’s Twitter account (@ScottCurtisRJ) that I find remarkable, it’s the support he gives Twitter as an information source in this Financial Planning video. (The site doesn’t allow embedding, you’ll have to click here or on the graphic to go watch the video.)

With its “surveillance program,” Raymond James (and other firms) are telling financial advisors that information found on Twitter is worth consuming, if not sharing. Could that include your content?

A Twitter List of Broker-Dealers

I've been keeping a Twitter list of accounts that belong to broker-dealers. It includes the research, investment, recruiting and even a few marketing accounts that I’m aware of. Today, I’ve flipped the @RockTheBoatMKTG Broker-dealers list from private to public so you can either follow it or use it as a basis for compiling your own list. It's a motley list of 22 as of now, with multiples from LPL and Raymond James. A few accounts do 90% of the tweeting. You'll see.

Listen, learn and adjust. (And if you know of additional firms that belong on the list, please advise.)