Accenture: Millennial Investors More Conservative

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

According to an Accenture (NYSE: ACN) survey of more than 1,000 high-income, digitally savvy U.S. investors, Millennial investors are more conservative and less trusting of financial advisors than baby-boom and Gen X investors, and more inclined to consult other sources before accepting financial advice.

Alex Pigliucci, global managing director of Accenture Wealth and Asset Management Services comments:

“Surprisingly, the millennial generation has emerged from two boom-and-bust cycles even more conservative about investing and more skeptical of financial advice than the generations that were hit hardest by the market,” he said. “This poses a fundamental challenge for financial advisors who will see the greatest transfer of wealth in history from boomers to their heirs over the next several decades. But counter to prevailing wisdom, our research suggests millennials are a highly viable target for advisors.”

Forty-three percent of millennial respondents (age 21-30) described themselves as “conservative” investors, compared with 31 percent of baby-boom respondents (age 46-70). Millennials were also significantly more likely than baby boomers to say they prefer “tried and true” investment options (27 percent vs. 19 percent, respectively).

According to the survey, published in Accenture’s new report “Generation D: An Emerging and Important Investor Segment,” millennials are the most driven among the generations to build and pass along wealth, and the most interested in mastering investment strategy