Nearly one-fifth of Americans in a recent survey said they were using robo-advisors or automated investment platforms to help manage their finances
While millennials were the generation most likely to use a robo-advisor, 18% of investors across all generations in a survey sponsored by Marcus by Goldman Sachs were using a robo-advisor.
Broken down by the three largest generations participating in financial markets today, 21% of millennials (those age 25 to 40), 18% of Generation X (those age 41 to 56) and 7% of baby boomers (those age 57 and older) currently use an automated investment platform.
The survey found that many Americans were changing their investment behaviors in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Nearly one-third (32%) said they were managing their investment portfolio more often, while 31% are investing more money than they were before the pandemic. Thirty percent were spending more time learning about investing than they were before.
Most of these investors, 59%, were getting their advice from online research, while significant numbers reported seeking advice from a financial advisor (40%), friends or family (36%), social media (21%) and podcasts (15%). By generation, older investors like baby boomers were more likely to seek advice from advisors, while younger investors like millennials were more likely to get advice from social media or podcasts.
When the respondents were asked what was most important in selecting investments, their most common answer was portfolio diversification, cited by 49% of respondents. They also prioritized being able to pick their own stocks (cited by 46%), investing with an advisor (cited by 29%) and investing in ESG strategies (cited by 18%). The survey also asked how investors were investing outside of their workplace accounts: 72% of respondents were investing in stocks, 39% in mutual funds and 28% in ETFs.
The survey, conducted in June 2021, included 2,037 American participants.