Meme stock mania in 2021 was driven by finfluencers – people providing investment advice on social media. But are they any good?

Some are, according to a recent study, Finfluencers, which found 28 per cent are skilled and generate strong outperformance; 16 per cent are unskilled; and 56 per cent are examples of “anti-skill” – that is, they’re hopelessly bad.

Negative finfluencers – for example, critical investors who warn about individual stocks – were more likely to be skilled. Unfortunately, they were also more likely to be ignored.

Anti-skilled finfluencers “have more followers and more influence on retail trading” than their skilled counterparts, the study notes. Investors prefer their finfluencers to be positive – and this costs them dearly.