Finfluential’s first ‘Centers of Finfluence’ took different paths to build their loyal followings

The finfluenced have spoken.

Finfluential surveyed more than 60 financial professionals to find out which voices they pay the closest attention to and the top vote getter was Nerd’s Eye View creator and all around advisor (or “advicer,” as he likes to say) whisperer Michael Kitces. He was followed by Morningstar podcaster and writer Christine Benz and Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig, who tied for the second most votes.

The nerdy blog that went viral

Launched in 2008 on Kitces.com, the Nerd’s Eye View blog started as a modest side project for Kitces to drive newsletter subscriptions and amplify his prolific speaking gigs. But his deeply analytical, uncompromisingly technical approach to financial planning struck a chord with fiduciary advisors looking to develop their practices and, over the next 18 years, the platform evolved from casual industry commentary into a source of advanced practitioner education on topics like practice management and the ever-growing array of wealthtech tools available to advisors.

Today, Nerd’s Eye View commands a massive following, attracting over 200,000 unique monthly visitors and acting as an engine for Kitces’ broader commercial ecosystem.

Ultimately, the franchise has fundamentally elevated the professional standards of modern wealth management and is watched closely not just by advisors, but by anyone connected to the industry.

The podcast that became appointment listening

Christine Benz joined Morningstar in 1993, rising up through the ranks to lead its U.S. fund research team before transitioning into her current role as Director of Personal Finance and Retirement Planning. Her meticulous, consumer-first retirement planning strategies quickly established her as a key contributor across the company’s media channels and its flagship conference, culminating with the launch of The Long View podcast in 2019. Co-hosting alongside colleagues,

Benz built a platform that brings disciplined academic rigor to highly accessible consumer-oriented advice.

The show features substantive interviews with leading investors, financial planners and industry pioneers. Guests have included Bill Bengen, Jonathan Clements, Cliff Asness, David Booth, Burton Malkiel, Wade Pfau and Liz Ann Sonders. And Benz’s fellow Centers of Finfluence, Kitces and Zweig, have been on multiple times.

Today, The Long View stands as a premier digital hub for portfolio theory and retirement strategy. The podcast’s growth—along with her Morningstar columns and multiple book credits—mirrors Benz’s popularity, earning her consecutive selections to Barron’s list of the 100 most influential women in finance.

The comforter of Main Street, afflicter of Wall Street

Not every important finfluencer has a podcast or a sprawling commercial franchise. By bringing the reporterly credo of “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable” to the realm of finance, the Wall Street Journal’s Jason Zweig has cultivated a cult following one old-fashioned paragraph at a time.

Each Friday regular online readers eagerly wait—and predaceous bankers nervously refresh their screens—to see what overpriced product, conflict of interest, or faddish market bubble will be the subject of this week’s “Intelligent Investor.”

The weekend column earned Zweig the Gerald Loeb Award in 2013 and the New York Financial Writers’ Association’s Elliot V. Bell Award for lifetime achievement in 2020.

Zweig breaks his share of news, most recently a blockbuster investigative piece showing how financier Paul Regan conned investors out of more than $50 million, coverage that ultimately led to Regan pleading guilty to multiple felony charges of securities fraud.

But it’s probably Zweig’s more practical pieces that have earned him a devoted following. He reliably reminds readers of what many already know (but tend to forget when they see their account balances going up): Markets are efficient; fees can eat up returns over the long run; liquidity is valuable; and complexity is often the last refuge of scoundrels.

Wider circles and the time value of finfluence

Nerd’s Eye View, The Long View and The Intelligent Investor are all different in both form and function. Perhaps the one thing their creators have in common is their tenure and their consistency.

Kitces, Benz and Zweig have each been building their personal brand for decades, all while maintaining a consistent voice: Clearly compounding interest is not just a financial concept.

That mostly holds for the other finfluencers who garnered multiple votes too. Next week, Finfluential will reveal some of the runners up and dive into who was most influential for the various audiences that we surveyed.