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Twitter for Asset Management, Are You Kidding Me?

by Steven

When I first heard about Twitter - an online tool for instantly sharing short updates and following others who do the same - I wondered who would ever want to do that, and thought it would be a waste of time. But I've been testing it out for a while now, and after listening to some of the discussions at our recent e-business roundtable, I reconsidered, and realized it could be a great internal tool for wholesalers and national accounts managers.

How Does Twitter Work?

Twitter users have 140 characters to answer the question, "What are you doing?" If you join Twitter you can "follow" others who also post. You can also direct message them, but always in 140 characters or less. Twitter interactions can be viewed and updated on the Web, through desktop apps, and on mobile devices. It's a way to quickly share information without having to send mass-emails.

Twitter for Wholesalers and National Accounts Managers (NAM)

Simply speaking, Twitter is a communication tool. Wholesalers frequently talk or email each other about successes they had with an advisor or a fund that they tried to promote. Rather than sending these successes as a long sentence or comment in the header of the email - I know you guys do that - wholesalers and NAMs could use a tool like Twitter to post these successes and follow them throughout the day.

The advantages of Twitter over email are:

• Every wholesaler in the organization has access to it


• Stored in a central location


• Searchable for future reference


• Limited to 140 characters to ensure concise messaging

If you're still wondering whether asset managers would really find this useful, I would suggest testing it out. This quick and easy service could provide a leg-up for the next generation of successful and progressive wholesalers and NAMs who depend on networking and the internet to facilitate communication.