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Modern Wealth Management: Navigating the Digital Evolution

💡 Top themes from SIFMA’s 2025 Social Media & Digital Marketing Seminar

Technology is transforming how we engage and serve investors. Firms and financial advisors must meet the modern investor where they are and participate fully in the dynamic ecosystem with their clients and stakeholders.

At the 2025 SIFMA Social Media & Digital Marketing Seminar, thought leaders from across wealth management and social platforms gathered in New York City to share actionable insights on evolving platforms and tools, effective risk management, and the client experience. This blog highlights the top themes for navigating the digital evolution and leading together.

A new generation of investors, new expectations

Keynote speaker Matt Repking, Leader of Financial Services and Insurance Vertical at LinkedIn, cited Federal Reserve data on millennial wealth, which is up fourfold since 2019 and growing at an unprecedented rate. With a projected $70 trillion expected to transfer to younger generations, financial advisors face a pivotal shift: today’s digital-first clients demand more personalization, responsiveness, innovation, and accessibility and expect financial advisors to keep up with trends.

As younger investors increasingly engage in financial conversations across social media, especially LinkedIn, it is Gen X that is spending the most on financial planning. Matt Repking elaborated on this during his keynote presentation, “Gen X is living longer, working longer, investing longer and because of that, their demands are higher as well.”

Recent research conducted by LinkedIn and Coalition Greenwich (available here and here – logins required) found that investors expect financial advisors to:

  • Step up with more proactive engagement during market volatility.
  • Build and maintain client relationships on social media.
  • Deliver personalized digital experiences to build trust.

Video is transforming how we connect with clients

Leading advisors are using short videos—2-3 minutes or less focusing on a single client question—to build trust through authenticity. Investors are not watching the full length of videos. They watch videos to get to know the financial advisor. One advisor on our FA Panel saw impressions soar from 200 to 20,000 by including their face on video. Another increased engagement tenfold by sharing a personal photo in the social media post.

And with Gen Z and younger investors turning to platforms like Instagram and TikTok for trusted information, compliance-ready video is more critical than ever for advisors.

These outcomes reflect a clear trend. To have meaningful client connections, advisors must provide:

  • Real, people-first communication that answers one question for investors: “Why is this important to me?”
  • A diverse range of content from educational posts to short-form videos.
  • Personal and authentic stories that are informative, relevant, and relatable.

AI will enhance, not replace financial advice

With AI, financial advisors can efficiently deliver timely social media updates and long-form insights—even when time and resources are tight.

Yet true differentiation comes from pairing new tech and tools with a deep understanding of the client’s evolving needs. While a robust editorial calendar helps advisors communicate consistently and provides content creation assistance, it is their ability to respond to market changes in real-time that highlights advisor expertise to a client and is what truly builds trust.

Harnessing AI, such as Gen AI, is a productivity boost and reduces the administrative burden, so advisors can spend more time with their clients. For financial advice to be effective, it must still be driven by connection and high-value conversations.

AI brings immense potential to wealth management, but it needs a closer look beyond being an enhancement tool. Do we need to think about this as software? What does AI governance look like in a world where every piece of software has AI in it?

Marketing and advertising compliance and keeping pace with innovation

As technology, platforms, and investor needs and expectations rapidly evolve, the pace of change is not just a regulatory challenge — everyone must adapt.

During the Digital Marketing and Advertising Regulation panel discussion, questions were raised about the gap between technology and regulation and what policy and regulation will look like for new platforms and the use of AI.

Across the industry, we are all learning together. To keep up with new information sources and maintain investor protection, compliance teams at financial services firms should:

  • Have clear supervisory procedures and record-keeping practices for the digital platforms used by the firm and its advisors to meet existing regulatory requirements and mitigate risk.
  • Continue using the “human in the loop” approach to review both traditional and AI-generated content.
  • Involve legal, compliance, and risk teams early when adopting new tools or platforms.
  • Develop flexible contingency and rollback plans to stay resilient amid ongoing change.

Looking to the future

For firms and advisors starting their digital transformation or looking to stay ahead:

  • Embrace authenticity: In a digital world saturated with information and messaging, personal and authentic stories stand out. Clients want to work with people, not just a firm.
  • Start small then scale: Begin with a focused presence—meet clients where they are. Start with a consistent, manageable strategy and expand as new opportunities grow.
  • Focus on the “why”: Whether it is a short video, a post, or an article, the content must be relevant and provide value to clients.
  • Partner: Successful firms participate in the ecosystem alongside their clients and other stakeholders, including compliance and regulators, to share challenges and navigate changes together.

Authors

Melissa MacGregor is Deputy General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for SIFMA.

John Maurello is Managing Director, Private Client Services for SIFMA.

 

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