What are the communications trends that South African asset managers and financial services professionals should be keeping their eyes on?
As a leading provider of B2B communications and financial PR strategies, this is a question we are constantly asking ourselves. This is a question which is particularly relevant in a South African economy which has seen its traditional business media assets under enormous financial strain and struggling to adopt to new commercial models and asset / investment managers are increasingly having to focus on their owned media assets.
These are some of the trends that we believe investment managers and financial services businesses should be aware of in the South African market:
The reputational threat of Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp channels
A major emerging threat for South African investment managers and financial services businesses is the rise of Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp channels which are utilised by scammers to solicit investments.
Recently Brenthurst Wealth became the latest to find itself being imitated on these channels.
This follows warnings from the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) related to:
- 1Invest Fund Managers (April 2025)
- Altvest Capital and its CEO Warren Wheatley (April 2025)
- JSE-listed packaging group Nampak and CEO Phil Roux (February 2025)
- JSE-listed 4Sight Holdings and its CEO Tertius Zitzke (December 2024)
- Asset Management group Rand Swiss (December 2024)
- Denker Capital (May 2024)
For South African financial services businesses, the misuse of their brand or corporate identity on encrypted platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram presents a growing reputational and compliance risk. Fraudsters often exploit the trust and credibility of established financial institutions to solicit fake investments, luring unsuspecting investors into scams. The challenge is compounded by the high degree of anonymity and the closed nature of these platforms, which make it difficult to trace perpetrators or swiftly remove misleading content. Left unchecked, these schemes can erode client trust, trigger regulatory scrutiny, and cause lasting damage to brand equity.
To counteract this, financial services businesses should adopt a multi-pronged response strategy. First, proactive brand monitoring – using digital threat intelligence tools and social listening services – can help detect early misuse of logos, names, or executive profiles. Second, clear and frequent communication with clients is crucial; companies should regularly publish investor alerts on owned channels such as their website, social media, and email newsletters, educating clients on how to verify legitimate communications.
Finally, updating terms of service and contracts to explicitly address impersonation and publishing official escalation paths for clients who suspect fraud can further bolster protection and trust.
FSCA: Re-defining Financial Education
Building on the previous challenge, the FSCA has noted that South Africa has continued to struggle with persistently low levels of financial education – something which leaves people vulnerable to scams or unsuitable products.
For many asset managers or financial planners, “Financial Education” activities are an important tool to raise awareness with potential clients. It is a fine line for providers to walk as they need to tailor audience-appropriate messages.
They also need to make clear distinctions between financial education, consumer education and marketing / branding activities and ensure they operate to the letter of the law.
There is an excellent breakdown of these challenges on EBNet by Lize de la Harpe, Senior Legal Advisor at Sanlam Corporate
Owned media assets to comment on industry matters
The investment in owned media assets is a growing trend and they provide asset managers / investment managers / financial services businesses the opportunity to comment on key issues by going beyond “sound bites”.
An excellent recent example of this would be the report from 27Four Investment Managers who unpack a detailed response to the proposed ESD “Transformation” Fund announced by Minister Parks Tau, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC).
In this activation, they have been able to unpack a complex topic which is dealing with a contentious and emotive topic and allowed themselves to manage the narrative.
Leveraging LinkedIn newsletters
Building on the “Owned” assets concept, we are noting that clients in the financial services, legal and advisory sectors are enjoying success by leveraging LinkedIn newsletters.
These are an excellent tool to leverage as they not only allow you leverage your investment in your existing LinkedIn presence, you are able to send an article directly to the inbox of recipients.
Two examples that we can highlight here are:
- Banking group Investec with its Focus Insights which goes out to over 205 000 subscribers
- The Financial Edge from Rowan De Klerk, the CEO of the CFO Centre South Africa
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