One of the biggest issues now confronting the brokerage industry is how to set up a social media program that truly helps advisors prospect and generate leads without running afoul of regulations.

We took a look at the leading-edge program at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in a recent webinar, “The Future of Wealth Management Social Media.” It’s fair to say that other companies are pondering their options right now. Some have taken action already.

Raymond James, for example, has rolled out a platform, and in the first two months, 1,200 of the firm’s 5,000 advisors signed up, notes Forbes. The program was built on a platform from Actiance in a beta program. Actiance will formally launch the new platform, Socialite Engage, later this month.

The company touts the platform as a tool to enable organizations to securely distribute content with clients and prospects via social media channels while remaining compliant with Finra and other guidelines. The platform also includes an analytics engine that allows users to analyze the impact of the content and the effect on sales and network growth.

Like most wealth management companies, the program features lots of preapproved content from the advisors or from stock strategists and analysts. But it also features a way for more free form connections, much of which requires approval at some point. It remains unclear whether any of this will generate a significant amount of new business.

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