Fundamental Media Insights


Research insights
9 May 2023

LinkedIn sees highest number of posts by asset managers since Q1 2022

Asset managers posted 1,459 times on the social media platform, the highest figure since the start of 2022

Key findings:

  • In Q1, the posts had an average sentiment of 0.59, while the average engagement was 42.1 per post, compared to an average sentiment of 0.63 and average engagement of 43.6 in Q4
  • The number of Facebook posts, tweets and YouTube videos was relatively steady during the first quarter of 2023, while the number of LinkedIn posts increased throughout the quarter. In March, asset managers posted 1,459 times on LinkedIn, the highest figure seen since the beginning of 2022
  • When we only look at asset managers’ LinkedIn activity, we see that expert views, market updates and ESG are the topics managers most often post about, similar to all quarters throughout 2022

Asset managers posted 1,459 times on LinkedIn in March 2023, which is the most LinkedIn activity seen since the beginning of 2022, data from Fundamental Media shows.

We analysed a total of 5,416 social media posts of 44 leading asset managers during Q1, including 3,459 LinkedIn posts, and compared them to the four quarters of 2022. In Q1, the posts had an average sentiment of 0.59, while the average engagement was 42.1 per post, compared to an average sentiment of 0.63 and average engagement of 43.6 in Q4. Sentiment is measured by looking at the number of negative and positive words used in the posts, while the engagement rate is the number of likes, clicks, video views, shares/retweets and comments a post has received.

Q1 2023 number of posts_original

The number of Facebook posts, tweets and YouTube videos was relatively steady during the first quarter of 2023, while the number of LinkedIn posts increased throughout the quarter. In March, asset managers posted 1,459 times on LinkedIn, the highest figure seen since the beginning of 2022.

Q1 2023 engagement_original

The engagement levels seen for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter were similar to those seen throughout most of 2022, with LinkedIn posts receiving higher levels of engagement than Facebook and Twitter having the lowest levels of engagement. The engagement levels achieved on YouTube were a mixed bag in 2022 and it looks like this may continue into 2023, as January saw a high average engagement of 80.37, which swiftly dropped to 7.04 in March. Despite YouTube engagement being the highest of all four social media platforms in January, they are still much lower than the highs seen in 2022, when the average YouTube engagement stood at 1,043.7 in February, 395.66 in May and 355.92 in October.

Q1 2023 sentiment_original

Asset managers started off the year with being most positive on Facebook, followed by LinkedIn, but this quickly changed as the average sentiment of LinkedIn posts increased during the quarter, while the average sentiment of Facebook posts decreased. Twitter remains the social media platform with the lowest average sentiment.

LinkedIn engagement

When we only look at asset managers’ LinkedIn activity, we see that expert views, market updates and ESG are the topics managers most often post about, similar to all quarters throughout 2022. While during the first three quarters of 2022, ESG and expert views were the top two topics with market updates coming third, this changed in Q4, when ESG was the most popular topic followed by market updates, with expert views dropped to third place. Q1 2023 again saw some movement in the top three, with expert views taking top position, followed by market views and ESG in second and third place, respectively.

Q1 2023 LinkedIn engagement_original

The topic that received the most engagement during Q1 is Middle East, at an average engagement of 93.08 versus the mean engagement by asset manager and month, although only two LinkedIn posts were about this topic. This was followed by Africa (average engagement of 36.33 across 13 posts), alternatives (average engagement of 21.11 across 38 posts), ETFs (average engagement of 17.04 across 56 posts) and cryptocurrencies (average engagement of 12.19 across 10 posts). The topic receiving the least engagement was tax, at an average engagement of -47.8 across 60 posts. All these topics have been excluded from the above chart for legibility reasons.

Q1 2023 number of posts and engagement LinkedIn_original

Expert views were the most popular topic throughout the quarter, but the popularity of ESG varied. Asset managers only posted 192 times about ESG in January, compared to 394 times in March. The ESG post with the highest engagement levels was a post by Fidelity about being named one of Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work in 2023, while posts celebrating International Women’s Day performed well too.

Market update posts that performed well include a look at what 2023 might bring for financial markets, what the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank means for depositors, investors and the market, and advice for retirement savers who are feeling nervous about the current state of the market.

Insights Research insights LinkedIn sees highest number of posts by asset managers since Q1 2022