The trend among U.S. employers is to enroll workers automatically in retirement plans, often defaulting them into mutual funds that invest predominately in stocks. Thanks to inertia, few decide to opt out once they are investing in a workplace plan, and that has lifted overall participation, Hobson said.

Yet, black investors lag whites when it comes to investing in equities, according to Ariel, which has been collecting data on attitudes of black and white investors since 1998. Roughly two-thirds of African-Americans were invested in stocks or stock mutual funds last year, compared with 86 percent of whites, the firm says.

"It's not like African-Americans are investing more than whites - we're just starting to catch up," Jackson said.

For its study, Ariel polled 500 black and 500 white households with incomes of at least $50,000 by phone last summer but held the data for release during Black History month.

Hobson acknowledged that the survey results do not capture more recent volatility in the stock market -- so far in 2016, the S&P 500 is down nearly 7 percent.

But attitudes toward equities are unlikely to shift dramatically among black investors, she said, adding: "These things do not turn on a dime."

First « 1 2 » Next