A Look Forward at Next Generation Investors
Speaker: Brooks Rennie, Vice President, Head of Investor Relations, Byline Bancorp, Inc.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Next generation investors – which Brooks Rennie defined as Millennials (born 1981-1996)
and Gen Z (born 1997-2012) – are beginning to reshape the investing world. The largest
generation in America today, Millennials are heavy users of digital technology and rely on
texting more than any other communication vehicle. Gen Z is even more tech savvy, as they
have no memory of a world without smartphones. However, they prefer visual social media
channels, such as TikTok.
- A Charles Schwab study fielded in February 2021 reports that 15% of new investors began
investing in the U.S. stock market in 2020, fueled in part to the pandemic. These new
investors (median age of 35) are hungry for information: 95% want access to information
and tools to do their own research, 90% want educational materials to improve their
investing skills and 82% want help and guidance from an investment professional. The
broader retail trend is evolving from trading (think meme stocks) to true investing, Rennie
said.
- According to Rennie, key themes that will continue to reshape the investing future include
commission-free trading, digitization, ESG and cryptocurrencies.