Attendees at Huntington Asset Services Client Conference Learn Five Social Media Rules for Mutual Fund Industry

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Huntington Asset Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (Nasdaq: HBAN) (www.huntington.com), recently held a client conference in Indianapolis. The conference was designed to give mutual fund managers and financial advisors pointers on social media, distribution, wholesaling, regulatory changes and audit requirements.

At the conference, Bruce Johnston, president and CEO of Advisolocity, shared ways that financial services professionals can leverage social media.    

Johnston offered the following five critical tips:

  1. Keep It General: Since government regulations classify social media as
     advertising, do not make specific product references or recommendations.
  2. Start Small: There is no need to have a presence on every social media
     outlet; pick the ones that are most relevant to your clients. LinkedIn is
     gaining in popularity with business professionals and blogs are becoming
     one of the most effective social media tools for financial services
     professionals.
  3. Watch Out for Testimonials: Government regulations restrict testimonials,
     which can be as simple as a friend "liking" your Facebook status or making
     a "recommendation" via LinkedIn. Also be careful of any interactions that
     could be considered an endorsement of another company's products or
     services.
  4. Archive Everything:Keep a record of all your communications with clients as
     well as any information you post on social media sites, in case they need
     to be reviewed.
  5. Engage Your Audience:You can build a strong relationship with clients by
     engaging them with timely, relevant information. It's an opportunity to
     promote your expertise, if not a specific product or fund.

"As we've grown our business in recent years, we've learned that fund managers have a keen interest in using social media to connect with clients, but are unsure about the most effective way to do so," said Brian L. Blomquist, president, Huntington Asset Services.  "They also have concerns about government regulations. To help our customers navigate this rapidly growing opportunity, we made the topic of social media the focus of a recent webinar and a prominent part of today's client conference."

Featured panelists and speakers included Ira P. Cohen, industry consultant; Bruce Johnston, president and CEO, Advisolocity; Ken Grant, president, Northeast Retirement Services; Paul McConville, executive vice president, Infinity Capital Management, LLC; and Dan Sondhelm, vice president and partner, SunStar Strategic, along with members of the Huntington Asset Services distribution staff.

Additionally, a panel discussion on upcoming regulatory changes and audits featured industry experts Don Mendelsohn, partner, Thompson Hine LLC and John Lively of the 1940 Act Law Group.  The conference concluded with a review of the fund audit process by Huntington Asset Services' fund accounting leadership team and Chris Bellamy, CPA and partner, Cohen Audit Services.

A white paper with more detailed information on effectively using social media is available on the Advisolocity website at www.advisolocity.com. The white paper was authored by Jeffrey Young, senior vice president of relationship management for Huntington Asset Services, and Bruce Johnston, president and CEO of Advisolocity.

About Huntington Asset Services

Huntington Asset Services, formerly Unified Fund Services, has been providing mutual fund service solutions for more than 40 years. Huntington's fully integrated services include fund administration, accounting, transfer agency, compliance, distribution and custody for clients with combined assets of more than $45 billion. Huntington's comprehensive solutions support both standalone and series trust structures. Based in Indianapolis, Huntington Asset Services, Inc. and Unified Financial Securities, Inc. are wholly owned subsidiaries of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (Nasdaq: HBAN), a $52 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. More information is available at www.HuntingtonAssetServices.com.

About Huntington

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $52 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Through its affiliated companies, Huntington has been providing a full range of financial services including checking, loans, savings, insurance and investment services to customers for 144 years. Huntington has more than 600 banking offices. Huntington also offers retail and commercial financial services online at huntington.com; through its telephone bank; and through its network of over 1,300 ATMs.

The logo mark and Huntington® are federally registered service marks of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated.

SOURCE Huntington Bancshares Incorporated