Clicks and Credibility 2.0

In January 2024, CFA Institute published a global report, “The Finfluencer Appeal: Investing in the Age of Social Media,”examining how young investors use content from financial influencers or “finfluencers” on social media platforms to gather information and make investment decisions.1 Finfluencer content can be informative, engaging, and relatable, and it can help improve financial education and inclusion. With its low barriers to entry, however, comes increased exposure to potential bad actors and questionable advice. The report offered a balanced and insightful take on the finfluencer landscape, examining both the challenges finfluencers pose to the traditional financial advice industry as well as the opportunities they unlock for attracting and retaining assets from this emerging investor base.

Amidst this backdrop, we decided to take a closer look at the situation in India. In March 2025, CFA Institute published “Clicks and Credibility: Understanding Finfluencers’ Role in Investment Decisions,” exploring social media content by finfluencers and its impact on investors in India along with individuals’ investment behaviour.2 Based on a March 2024 survey of 1,615 retail investors, that report offered a content review of 51 Indian finfluencers carried out in multiple phases throughout 2024. It found that although only 2% of finfluencers were registered with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), 33% of them provided explicit stock recommendations; moreover, 63% failed to adequately disclose sponsorships or financial affiliations.

The current report, “Clicks and Credibility 2.0,” builds on our earlier work to explore what has evolved in this space since March 2025. The 2026 report points to a partial shift in this landscape: The share of SEBI‑registered finfluencers has increased to 6%, but the proportion offering explicit stock recommendations remains unchanged at 33%. Taken together, these findings underscore that although a digital‑first ecosystem has expanded access to investment information in India, important questions continue around trust, accountability, and investor protection.

Finfluencers have continuously been on the India regulators’ radar. Over the last few years, India’s capital markets regulator, SEBI, has imposed heavy penalties on wrongdoers, introduced easier verification of genuine intermediaries before customers pay, mandated registration, and introduced strict guidelines governing the use and conduct of finfluencers. This report is aimed primarily at regulators to support the design of policy frameworks governing investment advice and communications, social media platforms that host and distribute finfluencer content, and individual investors who consume finfluencer content.

Despite progress, key challenges persist in the finfluencer ecosystem, including the following:

• Inadequate disclosure of paid collaborations: Often, sponsored content is not clearly or prominently disclosed, making it difficult for investors to identify commercial intent and “conflicts of interest” if any exist.
• Opacity in financial incentives and affiliations: Investors frequently lack visibility into all the ways that finfluencers are compensated or their sources of earnings from their content, limiting investors’ ability to assess potential bias while making their investment decisions.
• Prevalence of conflicts of interest: Many finfluencers operate parallel businesses (e.g., advisory, taxation, or legal services), which may benefit from their online influence without clear disclosure.
• Blurring of education and advice: Content is often framed as educational but may implicitly or indirectly influence investment decisions, creating confusion and ambiguity in investors’ minds as to the intent of the content. Finfluencer content that may not meet a regulatory definition of advice may still be perceived as so.
• Shift to offline or closed-channel engagement: Some finfluencers conduct seminars, workshops, or private groups where advice is shared outside visible regulatory oversight. While such formats are also used by registered advisers, they remain subject to compliance obligations, whereas similar interactions by unregistered finfluencers may occur with limited disclosures.
• Inconsistent disclosure of key investment considerations: Finfluencers do not always adequately communicate some important aspects for investors to consider, such as fees, risks, tax implications, and lock-in periods.

Our research is intended to play a constructive role in addressing these challenges associated with misrepresentation and poor advice and to support policy interventions that strengthen market integrity. Ultimately, we anticipate this work will help in building a safer investment environment for investors in India and beyond.

For Investors:

• Verify credentials: Before making financial decisions based on online financial content, verify the credentials of finfluencers, especially their relevant qualifications, necessary certifications, and SEBI registration status.
• Understand the education vs. advice distinction: Look for disclosures regarding the nature of the content posted to understand its intent and the motivations of the finfluencer.
• Be cautious of terminology: Investors should critically assess how finfluencers describe their regulatory status.In some cases, finfluencers may use creative phrasing, such as “SEBI compliant” instead of “SEBI-registered.” They are not the same.
• Use regulated platforms: Always use investment platforms that offer clear disclosures and investor education resources, as well as an established grievance redress mechanism.

For Social Media Platforms:

• Strengthen disclosure standards: Require all content creators to provide clear and prominent disclosure of sponsorships, partnerships, and financial affiliations in all financial content, monitor online content for compliance, and flag content that does not abide by disclosure protocols and standards.
• Introduce verification mechanisms: Provide visible identifiers (e.g., badges) for SEBI-registered advisers and analysts to distinguish credible sources.
•  Address risks from AI-generated content: Deploy tools to detect, label, and manage synthetic or manipulated financial content.
• Align algorithms with compliance: Limit amplification and monetisation of accounts providing unregistered investment advice.

For Policymakers and Regulators:

• Strengthen international cooperation: Collaborate with global regulators to address cross-border finfluencer activity and enforcement challenges related to investment communications.
• Introduce standardised disclosure frameworks: Develop clear, consistent rules on how and where finfluencers must make disclosures (e.g., within videos, not just in captions).
• Develop a Finfluencer Code of Conduct: Establish principles for transparency, accountability, and ethical financial communication.
• Promote investor awareness campaigns: Educate investors on identifying credible advice and understanding risks associated with finfluencer content.
• Strengthen fraud detection and reporting mechanisms: Enhance surveillance (including use of AI) of financial content online, improve reporting channels, and collaborate with social media platforms to identify misleading content.
• Strengthen oversight of high-risk and speculative product promotions: Require that any person promoting leveraged products or cryptoassets through social media or other digital channels be authorised by SEBI and increase oversight and obligations for such product promotions.

This report is relevant for a wide range of stakeholders involved in or affected by the growing role of finfluencers in capital markets. Regulators and policymakers, capital market firms, social media platforms, investors, and finfluencers can all gain insight from this research.

Investors: When making investment decisions and acting on advice, investors need to stay vigilant about fraud and misrepresentation for informed decision making. Investors should find this report useful in understanding risks with unrealistic promises, allowing them to be realistic in their return expectations.

Regulators and policymakers: The report will interest regulators (including SEBI) and other relevant authorities as they continue to assess and strengthen frameworks to capture finfluencer activity and decide whether additional supervision and clarity are required.

Capital market firms: This report is relevant for capital market firms and advisers that engage with (or are evaluating engaging with) finfluencers or social media channels as part of their product distribution architecture. The findings should inform compliance considerations when using such distribution channels.

Social media platforms: The report highlights the responsibility of social media platforms, whose function in hosting, amplifying, and monetising financial content raises important questions around platform responsibility, content governance, disclosure standards, and cooperation with financial regulators.

Finfluencers: Content creators and finfluencers themselves may find this report useful in understanding emerging expectations around ethical conduct, transparency, and accountability, which are essential to maintaining credibility and supporting financial market integrity.

The following findings are based on our analysis of a sample of 48 finfluencers operating primarily in India between January and October 2025.

• Although the finfluencers range in age from 25 years to 56 years, most are young. The average age was 32, with 50% age 30 or younger.
• The majority of finfluencers are male. The split by gender is 70/30 (men/women).
• Half of the finfluencers are based in Mumbai or Delhi NCR. About 10% are also based outside India (primary location of content creation and operations is outside India).
• Instagram is the most popular platform, with all the finfluencers maintaining a presence there; YouTube comes next. LinkedIn and X are relatively less popular.
• Instagram is also the dominant platform in terms of followers. On a cumulative basis, Instagram and YouTube account for more than 90% of followers for the finfluencers.
• Only 6% of finfluencers in our sample are SEBI-registered, yet 33% provide explicit stock recommendations.
• Conflicts of interest affect more than one-third of finfluencers — 37% fail to adequately disclose conflicts, such as sponsored content or affiliate marketing.
• About 6% of finfluencers were highlighted in the media for issues relating to disclosures or conduct, as reported publicly, and 4% have also faced penalties from SEBI.