San Francisco 49ers push finlit with robo-adviser Stash

The San Francisco 49ers have partnered up with Stash, the online brokerage with over 6 million users, to promote financial literacy and wealth building to millions of fans. 

Together the organizations will push Stash’s financial literacy program, Stash 101, which launched following Stash’s acquisition PayGrade, a platform that provides teachers with a finance curriculum designed around simulated banking and investing. 

Stash 101 comes on the heels of the fintech’s recent entrance into the robo-advice space, a fresh $125 million funding round and a surge in its assets under management to more than $3 billion. 

The NFL franchise San Francisco 49ers have the ability to expose Stash’s financial literacy programs to around 6 million fans via social media platforms Twitter and Facebook, and an estimated 11 million viewers that watch the five-time Super Bowl champion team during a single game, according to the NFL. 

The programming includes free financial seminars, educational competitions for fans with participation from 49ers players, and virtual classes that teach the fundamentals of investing, according to the announcement.

Stash’s CEO and founder Brandon Krieg said the point of launching campaigns that leverage star power to promote its financial literacy business is to help more Americans, especially young Americans, start to learn about important money skills that can help them to grow their wealth over the course of their lives, he said. 

“The sooner young people are exposed to core money skills and concepts — from budgeting to credit to taxes — the sooner they will feel empowered to invest in themselves and get started on their unique journeys towards financial freedom,” Krieg said in an email. 

Partnering up with prominent athletes or celebrities with large social media followings is becoming a trend in fintech marketing. In June, the most decorated U.S. male athlete of all time, Apolo Anton Ohno, is the latest addition to the Personal Capital marketing campaign that employs star power to boost brand recognition. 

One-third of investors today say they trust social media content to help them make financial decisions, and 32% say they trust social media influencers and celebrities’ financial advice, according to TIAA’s digital engagement survey. 

Fellow robo-adviser Betterment tapped the talents of actress Maggie Siff, who currently plays psychiatrist Wendy Rhoades on the Showtime series “Billions.” Acorns Grow Inc., a robo-adviser that recently announced plans to go public, is backed by celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez, Bono, Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Durant. 

Social-media-driven upstart Public.com even had Michael Bolton remake his 1983 “How am I supposed to live without you” with a song that asks retail investors to ditch commission-free brokerages that make money from payment for order flow.

Outside of brand recognition, Stash has been busy building other financial literacy programs with its athlete partners. Earlier this summer, Stash launched Stash101 Summer School, a four-week program in Portland, Oregon that focused on the elements of financial topics like investing. Participating students doubled their correct answers to an exam in just four weeks, according to a Stash spokesperson.