• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, May 9, 2012

How do financial advisors and high net worth investors (HNWI) of more than $100,000 in investable assets engage with social media? A study commissioned by LinkedIn and set for release Thursday at the Financial Services Summit in New York identifies a shift in thinking.

It turns out that social media plays a role in marketing for about 30% of advisors, rising to 52% in 2013, according to the study. Nearly three in four financial advisors have used at least one social network for business in the past year.

Social media has become a business channel for financial advisors, but many are not taking advantage of the platform. About 5 million HNWIs use social media to inform financial decisions, and of those who use a financial advisor regularly, 52% would value interacting with that person via social media -- but only 4% do today.

About two-thirds of U.S. online adults with an investment account have at least one social network profile, and nearly all households with more than $1 million in investable assets are now online, according to LinkedIn, citing stats from Forrester Research.

Expectations continue to rise with the adoption of social media. Fifty three percent of HNWIs expect relevant and timely content, 48% want greater transparency of information and 45% would value real-time interactive conversations.

Among advisors who have used at least one social network for business, 91% admit to using LinkedIn; 32%, Facebook; 28%, Google+; and 22%, Twitter.

The study also found social media improves brand perception of a financial company, labeling it as "innovative." Not only do investors expect finance companies to advertise on LinkedIn, but doing so improves consumer brand perception toward the financial company by 7%. That same financial company advertising on another social platform could result in an 11% net decrease in favorability, according to LinkedIn's findings.