About Trump , DeSantis said , “ He did not drain the swamp , not even close . We ended his presidency with Anthony Fauci running the country . You couldn ’ t even fire Anthony Fauci ?”
Bahnsen ’ s pronounced conservative political and fiscal values ( and his ability to raise large sums of money ) have made him an attractive target for Republican politicians taking the pulse of California Republicans . “ I meet with Ron DeSantis regularly right now ,” he says . “ I talk with Larry Kudlow every week . [ Kudlow is the former director of the National Economic Council and currently a Fox Business host ]. I ’ ve had 10 U . S . senators in my office and have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for politicians . I had a huge event in Orange County that [ former Treasury Secretary ] Steve Mnuchin and Ivanka [ Trump ] attended . We lean into this and we ’ re very involved politically .”
“ I ’ m favoring DeSantis , but feel that while he has an uphill battle to win the primary against Trump , he has a better chance to win the general election ,” Bahnsen says . Being opinionated on X and his “ Capital Record ” podcast , sponsored by the conservative National Review , Bahnsen attracts thousands of listeners weekly , and that “ has been a very good thing for business ,” he adds . “ I ’ ve probably lost two clients in eight years over this . I think there are probably some who are put off by what I say , but they would never have been our clients anyway .”
His high profile on social media has also led to frequent cable news appearances on CNBC , Bloomberg and Fox Business . In one of his recent appearances this year , he challenged J . P . Morgan with a shareholder resolution asking for a public investigation into whether the bank was discriminating against customers on the basis of their religion or politics — after it was reported that accounts held by conservatives had been purged . His resolution failed , but Bahnsen claimed to Fox Business that it left the bank “ petrified ” to discriminate . can make sense . But for most people , political posts could pose the risk of alienating existing and potential clients .”
The most successful advisors have a clear target audience and a strategy ; they post often and make five thoughtful comments on others ’ posts for every post they make themselves . Then they follow up with direct messages through channels such as LinkedIn ’ s InMail direct messaging , Theder says .
Some 74 % of advisors who landed a client on social media had followed up using direct messaging this way , Putnam Investments says . But advisors who post and opine often about politics or individual stocks also run the risk of garnering unwanted regulatory attention , Theder says .
Across the political spectrum from Bahnsen is Ross Gerber , a liberal Democrat and unabashed Tesla devotee who founded Gerber Kawasaki in Santa Monica in 2010 with longtime partner Danilo Kawasaki . Gerber has waded into the shareholder activism arena and credits his constant presence on social media and cable news with helping grow the business to $ 2.5 billion .
Gerber recently waged a very public campaign to get on Tesla ’ s board in protest over CEO Elon Musk ’ s alleged “ distraction ,” when he sought to purchase the social media platform Twitter , a deal completed in October in 2022 . The share price of Tesla tumbled 75 % from November 2021 to early January of this year , in part , said analysts , because of the perceived
An impressive 74 % of advisors now report that they have found clients as a result of social media — but social doesn ’ t have to be political , says Susan Theder , chief marketing and experience officer at FMG Suite .
An impressive 74 % of advisors now report that they have found clients as a result of social media — but social doesn ’ t have to be political , says Susan Theder , chief marketing and experience officer at FMG Suite ( who also contributes to Financial Advisor ). FMG offers an all-in-one marketing platform designed to provide advisors with a website , social media , blogs , events , video , email and printed marketing collateral .
“ It really comes down to defining your target market , value proposition and brand message ,” Theder says . “ If you have a pure niche strategy and are focusing deep and not concerned with appealing to multiple political beliefs , then it
Twitter distraction as well as other problems plaguing the carmaker . Gerber waged his campaign in TV interviews and on Twitter , asking followers if they supported his campaign for a board seat . Some 20,000 of his 330,000 followers answered yes .
But the partners of Gerber Kawasaki also found out the hard way that comments on Gerber ’ s Twitter account could come back to bite them . When the firm was undergoing a Securities and Exchange Commission audit ,
42 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 WWW . FA-MAG . COM