Warren Buffett’s Twitter account
On Wednesday, octogenarian billionaire Warren Buffett joined Twitter and has (in the past day) garnered over 200,000 followers. Perhaps it isn’t so surprising given that an anonymous bidder paid nearly US$3.5 million for a charity lunch with the investing guru last year.
Buffet’s decision to join is yet another sign that Twitter is becoming as central to the financial world as the Wall Street Journal.
But the “Sage of Omaha” is as highly regarded for his quippy one-liners as for his investing prowess, and it remains to be seen whether Buffet’s tweets will be used to engage the markets or simply to crack jokes (we expect that it will, most likely, be a combination of both).
Indeed, we’ve pondered openly with clients on how best to use Twitter as an investor, and it’s a complicated problem. Activist investors such as Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman, who strike fear into the hearts of corporate board members across the globe, appear to have limited presence on social media despite their high-profile public personas.
Australian investing names are similarly coy. While asset managers such as Colonial First State and AustralianSuper are keen Twitter contributors, capital providers are quieter. In an excellent interview last month, BRW spoke with Ann Byrne, the chief executive of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), who is a strong proponent of incorporating environmental, social & governance risk metrics into investment models.
In her role at ACSI, Byrne is well suited to promote these ideas via social media, but it doesn’t appear that her or the organisation have a presence on Twitter.
One counterexample may come from Hong Kong, where self-appointed corporate governance crusader David Webb operates his own “webb-site” which carries news and commentary on Hong Kong business. Webb uses Twitter to further promote his site, although he holds a relatively small following of about 400 followers.
It’s possible that investors may be wary of using the microblog to promote their ideas, instead trusting the perceived “legitimacy” of traditional media to convey their messages.
But investors large and small are warming up. An October 2012 infographic from Blackrock’s iShares division indicated that 52% of investors “would interact with advisors on social media”… but only 4% actually do. LinkedIn might be the right platform for such engagement to take place, with 91% of advisors claiming they use the professional-oriented social media network for business purposes. Furthermore, in a 2012 study conducted by FTI Consulting, 62% of advisers believed the network had assisted in winning one or more clients.
LinkedIn is in itself a great platform and has made clear strides to become a leading content provider (earlier this month they acquired Pulse, a widely used newsreading application primarily for mobile phones). We’re likely to see the investing community continue to utilise this platform to engage and distribute content.
In the meantime, we’ll certainly be following Warren Buffett’s tweets, even if only for the laughs.
Related:
[INFOGRAPHIC] CEO Guide to Twitter – what do I say in 140 characters?
