More than nine in ten (93%) wealth managers and financial advisers reckon that social media noise around stocks makes it harder to give professional advice to clients, according to a new study.

Almost all the finance professionals surveyed (95%) said clients were influenced by social media activity around stocks.

The global research from risk consultants Ortec Finance questioned wealth managers and financial advisers whose organisations collectively manage approximately £1.207trn.

More than eight in ten (82%) said they have become more influenced by social media, and more than one in ten (13%) said they were very influenced by it.

Less than one in 20 (4%) said they were not particularly influenced by social media activity around the stock market and stocks and only 1% said they are not at all influenced by it.

Tessa Kuijl, managing director, global wealth solutions at Ortec Finance, said: “Despite the many benefits that social media brings, our research shows that the noise around it is a hindrance to many financial advisers and wealth managers.

“With particularly the younger generation increasingly turning to social media as their source of information for everything from politics to DIY, they’re also using it as a source of financial advice.

“However, our research shows that social media is having a negative impact on many financial advisers and wealth managers themselves as well as hampering their ability to give sound professional advice to clients.”

Netherlands-based Ortec Finance has offices in Amsterdam, London, Zurich, New York, Toronto, Singapore and Melbourne and helps moe than 600 clients manage their $15trn AUM.

• Independent research company PureProfile interviewed 100 wealth managers and financial advisers located in the UK, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland whose organisations collectively manage around £1.207trn worth of assets for clients. The survey was conducted during April.