Some Young Investors Like Live Human Advisors
April 13, 2017 by Allison Bell
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If you’re trying to court young consumers with assets, the human touch may still give you an edge.
Analysts at Jackson National Life Insurance Co. found that only 36% of consumers ages 18 to 35 said they prefer to use the web as their primary source of information about investing.
Consumers in the 18-35 age group were somewhat more likely than consumers ages 56 and older to say they preferred web-based financial information, but they were not necessarily any more webcentric than consumers ages 36 to 55.
Here’s a look at the age breakdown of survey participants who see the web as their primary source of financial information:
- 18-35: 36%
- 36-45: 33%
- 46-55: 36%
- 56-65: 29%
- 66+: 23%
Jackson National, a Lansing, Michigan-based annuity issuer, published those figures in a summary of results from a survey of about 2,500 consumers conducted in January. All of the participants said they had at least $75,000 in investable assets.
The survey team found that, at least from the perspective of how people see themselves, the “gap” between the youngest adults and the oldest might be modest.
About 15% of the youngest adults surveyed admitted that they have “little to no understanding of financial products.” That was just a little higher than the average for all participants: 14%.
The survey team also asked about advisor use: 28% of all participants said having a “human financial professional whom I trust and who really ‘gets’ me” would make the biggest positive difference on their financial outlook.
About 38% of the participants with an advisor said they save money frequently, have at least a retirement account and have an investment portfolio.
Only 27% of the non-advised participants said they save frequently and have both a retirement account and an investment portfolio.
