Why Financial Services Firms Question HubSpot's Security
If you work in financial services and someone mentions HubSpot, the first objection you'll hear from your compliance team is predictable: "Is it enterprise-secure?" The concern is understandable. For years, HubSpot carried a reputation as a marketing tool for startups — lightweight, easy to use, and not built for regulated industries. That perception is outdated.
At Vantage Point, we've deployed HubSpot across wealth management firms, institutional asset managers, digital banks, and insurance carriers. Every one of those engagements involved a cybersecurity and compliance review. Every one of them passed.
What Security Certifications Does HubSpot Hold?
HubSpot maintains a SOC 2 Type 2 report, which validates controls governing data availability, confidentiality, and security. This is the same standard that Salesforce, Microsoft, and other enterprise platforms are measured against. HubSpot also publishes a publicly available SOC 3 report and undergoes regular audits aligned with the Trust Service Principles established by the AICPA.
From an infrastructure perspective, HubSpot is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), which holds SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and additional certifications. Data is encrypted in transit using TLS 1.2 or higher and encrypted at rest. As a publicly traded company, HubSpot's key IT controls are also audited under Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
How Does HubSpot Compare to Salesforce on Enterprise Security?
This is the comparison that comes up in virtually every financial services sales cycle. Salesforce has deeper brand recognition in regulated industries, but when you look at the actual control frameworks, HubSpot has closed the gap substantially. Both platforms offer SOC 2 compliance, data encryption at rest and in transit, role-based access controls, two-factor authentication, and audit trails for every interaction.
Where HubSpot differs is in its approach to permissions. HubSpot Enterprise tiers provide granular field-level permissions, team-based access, and IP restrictions — the same capabilities financial services compliance officers require. The platform also logs every email sent, form submitted, call made, and meeting scheduled with full timestamps and user attribution. That's the documentation trail auditors want to see.
Can HubSpot Pass a Financial Services Procurement Review?
Yes. We've guided multiple financial services organizations through their internal vendor review processes with HubSpot, including cybersecurity reviews and compliance assessments. These procurement cycles do take longer than in non-regulated industries — expect four to eight weeks for a thorough security review — but we have not seen them become deal-breakers.
The key is preparation. Before your compliance team begins their assessment, you should have HubSpot's SOC 2 Type 2 report ready for review, their Data Processing Agreement in hand, and a clear mapping of how HubSpot's controls align with your specific regulatory obligations, whether those fall under SEC, FINRA, FCA, or other governing bodies.
What About SEC and FINRA Compliance Specifically?
HubSpot is not a purpose-built compliance platform, and no CRM is going to solve compliance for you on its own. However, HubSpot provides the foundational capabilities that SEC and FINRA-regulated firms need: comprehensive audit trails for every client interaction, role-based permissions that prevent unauthorized data access, data retention capabilities, and automated workflows that enforce consistent processes.
Financial services firms that implement HubSpot with compliance in mind — configuring proper permissions from day one, establishing documented usage policies, and separating advisor access from marketing functions — can absolutely operate within their regulatory frameworks on the platform.
What Should Financial Services Firms Do Before Adopting HubSpot?
Start by requesting HubSpot's SOC 2 Type 2 report and their security documentation through the HubSpot Trust Center. Map your specific regulatory requirements — whether SEC, FINRA, FCA, GDPR, or others — against HubSpot's documented controls. Engage your compliance team early rather than treating security review as a final-stage hurdle.
Most importantly, work with an implementation partner that understands financial services compliance. A generic HubSpot setup will not address the nuances of regulated industries. Configuration matters: who has access to what data, how communications are archived, how permissions are structured across teams, and how audit trails are maintained. At Vantage Point, we bring both platform expertise and financial services industry experience to ensure that the implementation is compliant from the start, not retrofitted after the fact.
About Vantage Point: Vantage Point is a boutique consulting firm exclusively serving financial services organizations across HubSpot, Salesforce, and the broader technology stack. With 400+ engagements across 150+ clients and a 95% retention rate, we meet at the intersection of platform expertise and financial services industry knowledge. Learn more at vantagepoint.io.
