What’s going on? 

Passive > Active Portfolio Management 

With markets being hit by all kinds of headwinds right now, retail investors are taking less risk than in the past. In fact, 30% are taking an entirely hands-off or ‘set it and forget’ approach, versus only 17% a year ago. Less activity means less checking brokerage apps, fewer tweaks to their portfolios, and less time spent identifying new opportunities.

Index funds > Stock Picking

One key way that retail investors invest cautiously is by diversifying. Instead of trying to pick the needle in the haystack, many have switched tore buying the haystack wholesale, hoovering up discounts across the board. 

Macro > Micro

There's a surge in retail investors looking for information that explains how the macro environment might impact their portfolio right now. That means inflation, interest rates, central bank policy, and bonds are all hot topics. 

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What does this mean for brands? 

Retail investors are hungry for knowledge

Macroeconomics has captured the retail investor zeitgeist the same way GameStop did back in 2021. Daily attention that used to be directed towards buying stocks is now turning to making sense of the headlines, and retail investors are hungry for more information on how to intelligently set themselves up for long-term success. For brands that truly care about empowering their customers to make smarter decisions, now is the time to act. 

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About the survey: Our community focus groups help us keep up with how retail investors are thinking, feeling, and investing. This data is from a group of approx. 300 retail investors, gathered over 2021-22.

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