'FOMO finance': When investing becomes performative

Summary: From flashy stock picks to portfolio “flexing”, social investing is shaping how many investors behave and not always for the better. This story unpacks the hidden biases creeping into your portfolio, from herding to FOMO. Here’s how to watch out for them. The new tribe of financial influencers (or “finfluencers”) are rebranding money as an aesthetic. They’re sipping turmeric lattes in Santorini while explaining asset allocation. They’re walking Cannes red carpets not because it does anything for your investing habits but because visibility is their currency. All in linen co-ords, probably sponsored. Investing, once a disciplined, deeply private act, has become... content. And everyone’s a main character. It has now become social signalling. And yes, we have a term for it: social investing. Social investing is when investors take cues from peers rather than fundamentals. Decisions here are performative, based on social cues and groupthink, not data. You’re not buying that mid-cap stock because it’s undervalued; you’re buying it because Rohan from Instagram made a reel about it in his Porsche. The biases beneath the bling This trend supercharges some of the market’s most dangerous

This article was originally published on August 27, 2025.