Investment discussions have also migrated to private groups, webinars and other closed channels with limited regulatory visibility as a growing challenge, the report said
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The share of SEBI-registered finfluencers has tripled to 6.3 per cent from 2 per cent over the past year, but one in three continue to provide explicit stock recommendations while 37.5 per cent fail to disclose conflicts of interest, as transparency remains a challenge despite tighter regulatory oversight.According to a CFA Institute study, which analysed content published by 48 prominent Indian finfluencers across Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and X between January and October 2025, found that 33.3 per cent of creators continued to offer explicit stock recommendations, unchanged from the previous edition of the report.Disclosure gapsAround 6 per cent of the sampled creators had been publicly linked to issues relating to disclosures or conduct, while 4 per cent had faced SEBI penalties. Over 27 per cent did not disclose key investment considerations such as fees, tax implications or lock-in periods."SEBI's enforcement actions against high-profile finfluencers who operated outside regulatory boundaries have served as a strong deterrent for many unregistered players. However, much like the downside of overly strict parenting — where a child learns to hide rather than stop — some finfluencers have simply moved their activity out of sight, into closed WhatsApp and Telegram groups that are harder to track and regulate," Akshaya Bhansali, Managing Partner at Mindspright Legal.Investment discussions have also migrated to private groups, webinars and other closed channels with limited regulatory visibility as a growing challenge, the report said. There is also inadequate disclosure of paid collaborations, opaque financial incentives, conflicts arising from parallel business activities and the blurring of financial education and investment advice as recurring concerns.Bhansali said regulating financial content at scale remains inherently difficult. “Through verification badges, mandatory disclosures, disclaimers and an advertisement code of conduct, SEBI has taken meaningful steps to build investor trust and awareness. However, these measures still don't reach the unregistered activity happening in private, unmonitored spaces,” she said.“SEBI's enforcement actions against unregistered entities still revolve around complaints being filed by affected parties and ought to become more proactive through the active use of AI and technology,” Bhansali said.The report recommended stronger and standardised disclosure frameworks, verification mechanisms for regulated advisers, enhanced monitoring of misleading content and AI-generated financial promotions, a finfluencer code of conduct, greater international regulatory cooperation and investor awareness campaigns.Instagram remained the dominant platform, accounting for nearly half of the total followers of the creators analysed, while Instagram and YouTube together represented more than 90 per cent of the cumulative audience reach. Half of the sampled finfluencers were aged 30 years or younger, with an average age of 32 years.Published on July 29, 2026
