Clients who act on investment tips from social media

Research commissioned by IG and reported by Professional Adviser on 21 August 2026 surveyed 2,000 UK adults who invest. 41% had acted on investment advice, tips or inspiration seen on social media. Of those, 45% went on to lose money, which is 18% of everyone surveyed, at an average reported loss of £802.

8 min read · Altro Partners, by Equity & General

41%

of UK adults who invest had acted on investment advice, tips or inspiration seen on social media

IG research, reported by Professional Adviser, 21 August 2026

Reacting to

Social media investment advice leaves investors out of pocket — research, published 21 August 2026 (Professional Adviser)

Around two in five of those who invest have taken a financial decision on the strength of something they saw online, and close to half of those lost money. The FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey found that 8.6% of UK adults had taken regulated financial advice in the previous twelve months, and 13% of the self-employed.

What the research found

IG

surveying 2,000 UK adults who invest: 41% acted on investment content seen on social media; 45% of those lost money, 18% of all investors surveyed; average reported loss £802.

TSB

reported alongside it: 32% of UK adults had acted on financial advice on social media in the previous twelve months. Of those, 56% lost money, at an average loss of almost £700, and 59% said they regretted acting on it.

A majority of the people who acted regret it. Professional Adviser's editor argued on the same day that advisers have to be visible while damaging online advice runs unchecked.

Enforcement has been small. A Freedom of Information request by Investment Week, reported on 21 August 2026, found the FCA had pursued two operations against finfluencers over illegal financial promotions between 1 July 2023 and 10 July 2026, one started before July 2023 and the other in 2024, at a combined cost so far of almost £250,000, with one reaching trial over the promotion of an unauthorised foreign exchange trading scheme.

The survey rates applied to a client list

The figures are survey percentages and make no claim about any firm's clients. Illustration using a made-up practice:

400 personal tax clients who hold investments of some kind.
At the IG rate of 41%, around 164 of them have acted on a social media investment tip.
At the 45% loss rate within that group, around 74 have lost money doing it.
At £802 each, that is around £59,000 of losses across one client list.

The same behaviour applied to a pension, a business sale or an estate would involve larger sums. The lang cat's State of Advice Report 2025 puts the average new advised client portfolio at £411,000 and the average IFA client age at 59.

Why the accountant hears about it

A business owner speaks to their accountant at the year end, at the tax return, at the VAT quarter and when something unusual happens. Under Making Tax Digital that contact becomes quarterly for those in scope, as set out in quarterly filing under Making Tax Digital. The FCA found that 8.6% of UK adults had regulated advice in the previous twelve months (Financial Lives 2024).

It can arrive as an aside. We put a bit into crypto last year. My brother-in-law says I should be doing something with the money in the company. I saw a thing about pensions being taxed and now I'm not sure whether to bother. Each is a client saying they have an unanswered financial question and a source of answers that is not regulated. The situations in the numbers are in six situations in the accounts that call for a financial planner.

If the accountant says it is not their area and stops there, the social media content remains the only answer the client has had.

An accountant explaining a point to a client

What targeted support can and cannot see

The FCA's targeted support regime is live. It allows firms to suggest a course of action to a group of consumers in similar circumstances without a full personal recommendation. See targeted support is live and works from provider data. For a salaried consumer with one workplace pension it is an improvement.

It works from what the provider holds, which is one pension or one investment account. It cannot see retained profit in a limited company, a director's loan account, a personal guarantee on a lease, or a buyer's approach. For a business owner the answer depends on the balance sheet.

Two things to do this week

Add one question to the year-end agenda. "Is there anything you have been reading about, or thinking of doing, with the money that is not in the business?" The question does not recommend any product or action.
Write down what you will say next. When a client describes a decision made on a social media tip, there is a factual answer within an accountant's remit: promotions of investments to UK consumers generally have to be approved by an FCA-authorised firm (the financial promotion restriction in section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000); an individual posting a tip is unlikely to have that approval; and no video knows the client's tax position, their commitments or their capacity for loss. If a regulated question remains, say that it sits outside the practice's scope and that the Equity & General financial planner can look at it. The steps are in how the partnership works for one client, and the boundary in what the accountant does and what the financial planner does.

What is not settled

The research figures are survey findings. IG's sample was 2,000 UK adults who invest, TSB's covered UK adults more broadly, and the losses are self-reported. The two studies point the same way; the percentages are estimates.

The policy response is open. The FCA's targeted support rules are new and their reach will show once firms have run them for a year. Government interest in restricting under-16s' access to social media is unresolved, and it does nothing for the adult investors in the survey. Enforcement is running at two operations in three years on the FOI figures.

Common questions

Is this an accountant's problem or an adviser's?

Both. The accountant hears the question because of how often they speak to the client: the year end, the tax return, the VAT quarter. The FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey found that 8.6% of UK adults had taken regulated financial advice in the previous twelve months, and 13% of the self-employed. The accountant does not answer an investment question. The accountant’s part is to hear the question and to know where a regulated answer comes from.

What can I say when a client asks about something they saw online?

You can say what it is and where a regulated answer comes from. Content promoting a specific investment to UK consumers generally has to be approved by an FCA-authorised firm, an individual posting a tip is unlikely to have that approval, and no video knows the client's tax position, their other commitments or their capacity for loss. Do not give a view on whether the investment is suitable for the client or steer them to an alternative product. That is the financial planner's work.

Does the FCA pursue people who post illegal investment promotions?

Yes, in small numbers. A Freedom of Information request by Investment Week, reported by Professional Adviser on 21 August 2026, found two FCA enforcement operations against finfluencers between 1 July 2023 and 10 July 2026, at a combined cost so far of almost £250,000, with one reaching trial over an unauthorised foreign exchange trading scheme. Enforcement comes after the event and does not reach a client who has already acted.

Does the FCA's targeted support regime solve this?

In part. Targeted support lets firms suggest a course of action to a group of consumers in similar circumstances without a full personal recommendation, which puts something regulated between the client and the internet. It works from what the provider holds, one pension or one investment account, so it does not see the retained profit in the company, the personal guarantee on the lease or the buyer's approach.

How do I raise this at a year-end meeting?

Ask it as an ordinary question in the meeting the client already expected: is there anything you have been reading about or thinking of doing with the surplus? If the answer involves a regulated product, say that it sits outside what the practice can advise on and that the Equity & General financial planner can look at it.

Financial planning for your clients, alongside the accounts and tax work

Equity & General holds the FCA authorisation. There is no charge to your firm, and a named partnership director works with you from the first introduction.