Internet Streamers Need Advice Too. Advisors Are Playing Catch-Up

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Like many folks during the pandemic, CPA Ryan Bannister turned to video games for some much-needed human interaction, specifically the live-streaming platform Twitch. What began as a way to talk to others while playing Dark Souls and The Legend of Zelda quickly became “the financial advice hour,” where he informally helped fellow gamers with their finances. In 2022, he launched 1Up Financial Advisors, an RIA that largely targets internet content creators.

“The Mr. Beasts and big streamers of the world are already being taken care of, but I’ve been able to find a sweet spot,” said Bannister, who mostly caters to small- to mid-size creators with six-figure salaries.

I’m New at This

Internet streamers and content creators range wildly from just side hustlers to media moguls with millions of dollars of annual income, and because most are in their 20s and 30s, many don’t come with the AUM wealth management firms typically require. Still, they are quickly becoming an untapped clientele in desperate need of financial advice.

“Content creators are still up-and-coming,” Bannister, 32, told The Daily Upside. “So far, 99% of the clients that I have came to me with zero investable assets.” While most clients aren’t going to “make it” dancing on TikTok or filming gym routines on Youtube, internet personalities can find themselves earning a lot of new money quickly and have no idea what comes next: 

• Among part-time and full-time content creators, nearly half earned less than $15,000 in 2023, according to a survey from market researcher NeoReach. However, more than 7% made above $200,000 a year.
• Then there are the real top earners, like comedian TikToker Khaby Lame who made $20 million last year, according to Forbes. (This is his whole schtick, by the way.)

“I have clients with negative net worths, but they’re high income and are digging themselves out of it,” said Galen Herbst de Cortina, 36, owner and lead planner at Buff Your Finances, an RIA that also caters to online creators.

His clientele’s needs are much different from the typical wealth management clients who have already amassed significant assets. That means portfolio management and retirement planning aren’t top priorities. Instead, they need help paying off student loans, finding health insurance, and managing multiple streams of income including ad revenue and audience donations. “It’s entertainment,” Herbst de Cortina told The Daily Upside. “The thing you do, and is really popular right now, could become unpopular.” 

Get in the Game? Will we see the rest of the wealth management industry start targeting the hundreds of millions of content creators worldwide? Herbst de Cortina isn’t betting on it. The niche is very much untapped, meaning there’s plenty of opportunity to foster lengthy relationships — if advisors are willing to wait.

“There just aren’t a lot of firms targeting younger clients in earnest,” he said. “Creators haven’t had the time to accumulate assets that would make them a meaningful client.”