Oyster Consulting Blog

Over the past few weeks, I’ve written about the potential opportunities, threats and regulations guiding broker/dealers’ and RIAs’ use of social media. But one glaring question remains unanswered: With numerous channels and participants, how on earth do you stay on top of all the social media content created by or on behalf of your firm?

Thankfully, technology is on your side to help you.

Social media tools designed specifically for financial professionals can help you embrace new communication channels — while complying with FINRA and SEC regulations. Several products currently exist, and I believe the offerings from Smarsh, Global Relay and SunGard Protegent are worth a look. Their capabilities vary, but each of these tools is designed to help you monitor and archive your firm and employees’ interactions on social media, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  

Global Relay and Smarsh have worked in the email archiving and content filtering space for years, and many of our clients have used their products for email and instant messaging compliance. SunGard, on the other hand, is a technology and compliance software company that has focused on surveillance, supervision and trading — their Protegent Social Media Surveillance for financial professionals is their first foray into electronic communications, but archiving has been a core offering for many years. Despite being new to the electronic communication arena, Protegent is worth careful consideration, too.

According to Suman Garhwal, SunGard’s vice president of business integration, they developed Protegent to “leverage their experience providing compliance solutions, helping organizations with a proactive approach to monitoring and our bandwidth to partner with clients to build a product that meets their needs.”

Garhwal believes financial firms realize the urgent need for automated tools that help fulfill their regulatory obligations with social media, but they’re unsure how to best manage their communications. And if my experience at their recent compliance summit in Miami was any indication, Garhwal is right on: Of all the breakout meetings offered, the social media compliance session was by far the best attended.

Because each social media tool’s services differ, I can’t say which will best address your firm’s needs. But after conducting research and before making your selection, I highly recommend you talk to their current and former clients to learn more about their experiences and perspectives. And as always, call me at 804.965.5403 with any questions. I might not always be by my phone, but I will always call you back.