2017 was the year investment community embraced digital communication
Monthly active users grew over 400% to over 220,000, led by financial advisors
Further adoption of AI, machine learning, blockchain will drive 2018
HOUSTON and NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harvest, the world’s fastest growing investor network, today announced its exceptional growth metrics for 2017.
“In 2017, more investors turned to Harvest for investment management information than ever before,” said Peter Hans, co-founder and CEO of Harvest. “Our vision for Harvest was to create a community where professional investors could find all content relevant to them in one place. This past year, our vision became reality as user adoption reached a tipping point and engagement increased exponentially.”
User Growth
Total monthly active users on Harvest’s platform as of Dec 31, 2017 numbered over 220,000, a year-over-year increase of over 400%.
Harvest breaks down its user base by three investor segments: individual investors, financial advisors, and institutional investors. These numbers represent individuals, not organizations.
Individual investors at the end of last year totaled over 91,000, and still make up the largest constituency of readers on Harvest.
Financial advisors represent Harvest’s fastest growing segment, with nearly 70,000 now active on the platform, a year-over-year increase of over 300%.
Professionals representing institutional investment organizations, such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, and family offices, now total over 23,000.
Content Library
“2017 also saw a tremendous leap forward in digital engagement by investment managers,” continued Hans. “Access to data continues to drive strategic decision making at these firms. In such a competitive environment for asset raising, managers devoted substantial resources to value-added content creation and user experience for their customers, while better quantifying the return on investment of their efforts.”
There were 71,296 professionally published pieces of content on Harvest as of Dec 31, 2017 compared with 48,470 a year earlier, a year-on-year increase of 47%.
Breadth of Topics
“Not surprisingly, user search queries on Harvest often overlap with topics being covered by the general news media,” continued Hans. “Every investor has different interests, goals, and methods of consuming information. It’s not surprising to see that play out in our data.
“For example, podcasts proved to be an effective tool in reaching individual investors in 2017, while advisors and institutions preferred traditional research reports and investor letters.
“Not surprisingly, interest in alternative investments such as hedge funds, private equity and venture capital was high across all user segments, but real estate stood out as a consistently popular topic among institutions.
“Another trend that emerged last year was advisors’ interest in practice management. Harvest will be devoting more resources to this in 2018.”
Below is a breakdown of reader interests by asset class, theme, content type, product and trending topic throughout 2017.
For individual investors:
| 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | |
| Asset Class | Alternatives, Equities | Alternatives, Cash | Equities, Real Estate | Equities, Alternatives |
| Theme | Insurance, Behavioral Finance | Personal Finance, Behavioral Finance | Global Macro, Value | Activism, Behavioral Finance |
| Content Type | Video, Podcasts | Video, Podcast | Podcasts, Investor Letters | Podcast, Research Report |
| Product | Venture Capital, 401k | MLP, Venture Capital | Life Insurance, 401k | Hedge Fund, Life Insurance |
| Trending Topics | IPOs | Activism | Activism | Technology |
For financial advisors:
| 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | |
| Asset Class | Cash, Alternatives | Equities, Alternatives | Equities, Alternatives | Commodities, Alternatives |
| Theme | Technical, Practice Management | Value, Technical | Value, Quant | Practice Management, Value |
| Content Type | Investor Letters, White Paper | Research Report, Video | Video, White Papers | Investor Letters, Research Reports |
| Product | MLP, ETF | ETF, Mutual Funds | Mutual Funds, ETF | Hedge Funds, MLPs |
| Trending Topics | Robo Advisors | Technology | Retirement Accounts | Quant |
For institutional investors:
| 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | |
| Asset Class | Alternatives, Real Estate | Equities, Real Estate | Equities, Real Estate | Alternatives, Real Estate |
| Theme | Global Macro, Value | Value, Income Investing | Global Macro, Value | Quant, Income Investing |
| Content Type | Investor Letters, Video | Investor Letters, Research Reports | Video, Investor Letters | Investor Letters, Research Reports |
| Product | Private Equity, Hedge Funds | Defined Contribution, Mutual Funds | Defined Contribution, Hedge Funds | Hedge Funds, MLP |
| Trending Topics | ETFs | Commodities | Venture Capital | Energy |
Looking Ahead
“In 2018, we expect these trends to accelerate further, while AI, machine learning and blockchain technologies will be further integrated into the greater investor ecosystem,” concluded Hans. “The digital train has left the station, and those who are not on it risk being left behind.”
About Harvest
Harvest is a financial technology company that leverages A.I to help investors efficiently and securely access the insight most relevant to them. Harvest’s compliance tools and customizable security settings allow for enhanced distribution and discovery across asset managers, institutional investors, advisors, individual investors and others. Through its proprietary data analytics engine, Harvest is able to maximize ROI for its clients while better aligning incentives through transparency and relevant engagement.
Media Contact:
Thomas Walek
Peaks Strategies
1-917-353-7575
twalek@PeaksStrategies.com