What the Facebook-WhatsApp Deal Means for Advisors

Facebook’s (FB) $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp, a messaging application used by about 450 million mobile-device owners worldwide, may not make financial sense to all observers. But, the strategic move, announced Wednesday, should be taken very seriously by financial advisors and their broker-dealers, experts say.

WhatsApp is taking on messaging titans like Twitter (TWTR), Google (GOOG) and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Skype. It’s adding about 1 million users every day and is the most popular messaging app for smartphones, according to OnDevice Research.