Investors want advice in a volatile market. ‘Finfluencers’ are trying to fill the gap

Financial influencers are stepping into the role of financial translator and finding their reach – and responsibility – growing fast.

Matt Shoss, a 21-year-old Western University student, lost about $13,000 in his investment portfolio at the beginning of April. Instead of panicking, he picked up his phone and made a TikTok telling his 60,000 followers to stop freaking out.

“Are you dumb?” he asked in the video, reacting to investors who rushed to sell after U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariff announcement sent stocks tumbling. “Stop being emotional and grow up.”

The video – a mix of tough love and basic investing advice – has been viewed nearly a million times. It walks through the classic principle of buying low and selling high and urges viewers not to dump their stocks out of fear.

Since posting it, Mr. Shoss has gained a flood of new followers by repeating a message that could be expected from a financial adviser charging fees: Don’t sell in a downturn and stay calm.

The difference is that Mr. Shoss isn’t a professional adviser. He is studying to become a pilot, but spends his free time immersed in finance. He co-founded a venture capital firm, Dragonfruit Ventures, which is on track for its first $5-million close at the end of May. He gives talks on personal finance at events across Canada and the U.S., and posts financial content on social media.

“People want answers, so they go to places they think will have the answers,” Mr. Shoss said. “For a lot of people, especially the younger generation, that’s going to be social media.”

Financial influencers such as Mr. Shoss – known as “finfluencers” – are having their moment to shine. These creators have built loyal audiences by explaining complex financial topics in plain language through short, engaging videos. Now, as markets grow more volatile, many are stepping into the role of financial translator, and finding their reach – and responsibility – growing fast.

After posting just once on TikTok in March, Mr. Shoss ramped up to nearly daily content in the two weeks following the early April market whiplash, sometimes sharing multiple videos a day. His inbox and comment sections quickly filled with anxious questions: are you selling? What if the stock market doesn’t go back up? How do you invest?

Some viewers are first-time investors. Others, he suspects, are watching while trying to figure out how to afford a house or recover from big portfolio losses. “You have to be careful about what you post in times like this because a lot of people are on edge,” he said.

Most financial influencers aren’t licensed advisers, and many, such as Mr. Shoss, are self-taught. But they’ve found an audience by filling a gap: Canadians, especially young ones, increasingly want jargon-free explanations about the economy, and how it affects their money.

Unlike traditional advisers, finfluencers don’t charge fees. Their advice comes in the form of Instagram posts, TikToks and YouTube videos, often grounded in personal experience. Many try to be transparent, sharing screenshots of their portfolios, admitting to losses, and reacting to news in real time.

A 2024 survey commissioned by the Canadian Securities Administrators found that 53 per cent of Canadians use social media for investment information, up from 35 per cent in 2020. Among younger investors, the number jumps to 82 per cent.

Meanwhile, more Canadians are managing their own investments through low-cost brokerages or apps, often without working directly with a financial professional. That’s left a large, advice-shaped hole, said Shannon Lee Simmons, a certified financial planner and founder of the New School of Finance.

“Influencers are sort of taking that space,” she said.

Some finfluencers are injecting optimism into their content, framing market dips as a buying opportunity. “This volatility is actually good for us as investors,” said Brandon Beavis, a 30-year-old former licensed adviser with about 235,000 subscribers on YouTube.

“The stock market has been a little bit crazy the past week,” said Mr. Beavis, co-founder of the social investing app Blossom, in an April 8 video. “This is exactly what I’m doing in the markets to navigate these rocky times.”

While finfluencers often can give good general advice to viewers, Ms. Simmons said, “on social media, it’s all very general, and nothing is customized to a specific person.”

A recent study from the Ontario Securities Commission found that investors who made a financial decision based on finfluencer advice were 12 times more likely to have been scammed on social media. While some creators give solid advice, others may be misleading – and hard to spot, Ms. Simmons said.

Benjamin Felix, chief investment officer and portfolio manager at PWL Capital, has seen the numbers spike on his YouTube channel this month after posting content explaining the history of market crashes.

“When there’s uncertainty, people want to understand what’s happening,” he said in an interview. “If you make a video that gives context and helps people think through it, it’ll do well.”

But, he added, that makes viewers more vulnerable. “Content creators are aware of that and will create content that caters to those concerns,” he said, “but it’s not always obvious that it’s being done responsibly.”

While financial content that serves as an educational guide can be helpful, viewers should be cautious of advice that veers into prediction or pushes viewers to buy specific products, said Mr. Felix.

Influencers often earn money through sponsorships – a model that can muddy the line between content and advertising. Recently, Alberta’s securities watchdog found that one influencer broke securities laws by failing to properly disclose that he received payments from four companies in exchange for promoting their stocks on social-media platforms.

Joyee Yang, a 26-year-old full-time finfluencer in Toronto, has gained more than 2,000 Instagram followers in the past month, bringing her total to around 136,000. She makes money through sponsorships but focuses on keeping her content educational.

“Instead of saying ‘you should buy this!’, I tell the audience what the product is, and they decide for themselves whether it’s a good product for them,” she said.

For Mr. Shoss, who says he‘s regularly approached by companies about partnerships, it’s important to be selective and stick with brands he trusts, such as TD Bank or EQ Bank.

Mr. Shoss is also focusing on striking the right tone – informative, but not alarmist – as he gets more questions from followers that express fear over what’s happening in the markets

“I think as a content creator, I have an important role,” he said. “I have a responsibility to stay neutral and unbiased in a lot of situations. I try to reinforce that in my content, just trying to make people feel a little bit more at ease with all the noise going on.”