Bob’s Guide points at a new report from Corporate Insight looking at how the Financial Services sector is adopting social media.

Here is a précis of Bob’s summary:

The brokers: OptionsXpress, Scottrade, Vanguard, Wells Fargo and Zecco have YouTube commercials based on their web offer, E*Trade reruns their TV commercials. TradeKing (10,700+ participants) and Zecco’s (38,000+ participants) communities feature open membership with full participation for individuals whether or not they have an account. Members who hold accounts are allowed to display their portfolio performance on a percentage basis.
Schwab and Scottrade’s online communities are for customers only. Schwab’s (approximately 4,200 members) is restricted to active traders who make more than 36 trades per year, while Scottrade’s community (approximately 8,000 members) is open to all clients. TD Ameritrade offers a sentiment tracking tool on its website that allows clients to vote on the daily performance of a stock and see how other traders are voting. Fidelity has taken a cautious approach to social media; the firm hosts a community for its WealthLab Pro users but not for its broader client base.

Banking/Credit Cards: 8 of 20 companies surveyed use YouTube. Wells Fargo participated in the virtual world Second Life before branching out with its own Stagecoach Island community targeting Gen Y customers. American Express, Bank of America and Capital One have also developed their own online communities to serve small business owners. Visa has launched its own Facebook application targeting small business owners, a one-of-a-kind in the industry.

Annuity Issuers: Annuity issuers target older consumers who are the least likely to participate in social media. AXA and TIAA-CREF maintain online communities directed at retirees. New York Life lets public site users rate and bookmark pages using popular share sites like Digg.

Mutual Funds: Mutual fund company executives say they are being held back by compliance departments, but are pretty conservative about the web in general. T. Rowe Price uses social media for internal training of seasonal tax representatives.

There is no word on how many are tracking ROI on these activities, which perhaps chimes with the companies’ characterisation of their efforts as “experimental”.