RISKY BUSINESS

Social media is awash with creators telling you where and how to invest. Lydia Spencer-Elliott explores who to trust

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I’ve never been particularly interested in the world of finance. I have a humanities brain, and like books and paintings infinitely more than stock charts and spreadsheets.

I used to see the world of investing as sort of like astrology for boys; full of jargon and unpredictability. I say mercury’s in retrograde, you tell me the S&P 500 is trading down around 0.61 per cent - now, we’re both confused and think the other is simply making nonsense up. So, as is the case for many others, my money sat in the safety of a savings account, earning a pitiful one per cent interest rate each year.

That was until, on one afternoon spent scrolling on TikTok, Mia McGrath popped up on my spoon-fed “For You” page. The 25-year-old financial influencer (finfluencer) - who previously worked in the world of fashion and coined the term “frugal chic” - has six figures in her savings and investments, and plans to become a millionaire by the time that she’s 30.

Unlike the city’s money men - or even Martin Lewis - she wasn’t dressed in a crumpled suit and sad brown shoes. She was sitting in her bedroom, in a black rollneck and jeans, speaking in terms I could actually understand. Inherently, I trusted her and, without checking any of her credentials, moved my money around to copy her investment strategy.

This might sound monumentally stupid, and perhaps it is - but it’s also not uncommon. A recent survey found that just over seven million people have followed financial advice from an online personality or influencer. Of those, 1.9 million didn’t check whether the content creator held any financial qualifications. These numbers significantly accelerate among Gen Z, 75 per cent of whom have sought financial advice online, according to Credit Karma.