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“What people are doing is saying, I’m just going to leave the space, because it’s not worth it,” Benjamin said. “It makes financial education just that little bit harder to access, and it pushes people towards advice, and I think advice is great but it can be expensive and not an option for many Aussies.”
Molly Benjamin, founder of Ladies Finance Club
Ray Corcoran, who runs a personal finance YouTube channel, said he did not consider himself a “finfluencer,” and he had not removed any content since ASIC’s comments. Even so, he said the crackdown would make him hesitant about sharing details on his own portfolio of exchange traded funds. Corcoran, 34, also highlighted the high cost of financial advice, which can run into the thousands of dollars.
“I hope that the changes don’t mean that people are discouraged from sharing what they’re actually doing, and what’s working and not working,” he said.
ASIC’s senior executive leader for market supervision, Calissa Aldridge, said since ASIC released its information sheet in March, it had engaged with finfluencers, many of whom were thinking about “which side of the line they think they’re falling on.“
“We’re not saying that those businesses can’t continue. But there are definitely certain business models that stray into the provision of financial services, and they therefore need to be licensed, or operate under a licensee. So they have those choices, essentially,” Aldridge said.
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An ASIC survey last year found 33 per cent of 18 to 21 year-olds followed at least one finfluencer. Almost two thirds of those surveyed said they had changed some financial behaviour as a result of following a finfluencer.
Founder of millennial and Generation Z-focused investment conference MarketLit, Lelde Smits, interviewed several leading finfluencers at the event last year, and said they were all seeking clarity on their legal obligations.
“While I welcome ASIC’s commitment to keeping financial markets safe I do acknowledge the frustrations of some finfluencers who have questioned why cryptocurrency or property has not been included in the guidelines and I do suspect there will be further regulation ahead,” Smits said.