LinkedIn content for financial services websites

LinkedIn content that works for advisers and firms

People choosing an adviser, planner or wealth manager want to know who they'll work with and whether that person is qualified. LinkedIn already holds much of it: designations listed under Licenses & certifications, career history, and the firm's commentary on markets, planning deadlines and client events.

• Advisor bio pages: a profile card with headline, current role and experience.
• Credentials: a certifications grid showing designations with their issuers and credential links where the advisor added them.
• Insights or news page: the firm's LinkedIn Page posts, ideally hand-picked rather than a live feed.

Where each widget belongs

Leave advisers' personal post feeds off the site. They mix market views, personal news and reshared articles, and a live feed publishes each one without review.

Testimonials, endorsements and adopted content

For SEC-registered investment advisers, the Marketing Rule (Rule 206(4)-1) defines a testimonial as a statement by a current client or private fund investor about their experience with the adviser, and an endorsement as a comparable statement by someone who isn't a client. Advertisements that include them need clear and prominent disclosures, including whether the person is a client and whether they were compensated, plus oversight and, for paid promoters, generally a written agreement.

A LinkedIn recommendation for an adviser, written by a client or a colleague, can fit those definitions once the firm shows it on its website. The widget can't add the required disclosures, and it shows every public recommendation on the profile with no way to hide one, so ask compliance before using the recommendations widget at all.

For broker-dealers, FINRA Regulatory Notice 17-18 says third-party posts generally aren't the firm's communications unless the firm is entangled (it helped prepare them) or has adopted them (it endorsed or approved them), and that sharing or linking to specific third-party content is adoption. Testimonials about investment advice or performance also need the disclosures in Rule 2210(d)(6).

• Use the firm's LinkedIn Page as the source and turn reposts off, so third-party content you reshared doesn't appear on your site.
• Prefer Selected posts (Pro and Essentials): only posts you pick appear. Edits made on LinkedIn to a picked post still show up after the next refresh, so limit who can edit approved posts.
• Comments are never displayed, only reaction, comment and repost counts, which you can hide.
• FINRA members: Rule 2210(d)(8) requires a readily apparent reference and hyperlink to BrokerCheck on webpages with a professional profile of registered persons who do business with retail investors. A page with a profile card likely qualifies.
• LinkedInEmbed isn't an archiving tool. Capture what the widget displays under your firm's books-and-records procedures.

This is general information, not legal advice. Your chief compliance officer decides how these rules apply to your firm; check with them before embedding.

A setup plan for an advisory firm

1. 1

   Solo adviser

   Free covers one widget, such as your profile card. If you want hand-picked posts, Pro (3 widgets, 2 sources) fits a profile card and certifications grid from your profile plus Selected posts from the firm's Page.

2. 2

   Team of three or four advisers

   Essentials (5 widgets, 5 sources) fits Selected posts from the firm's Page plus a profile card for each of four advisers.

3. 3

   Larger firms

   Use the firm's company card and Selected posts on public pages, and add profile cards only for advisers whose LinkedIn profiles compliance has reviewed.