This annual market sizing report provides the foundation for sizing U.S. retail investors. Portrait incorporates detailed analysis of government data to establish aggregate market size. First an aggregate view of household (HH) assets is established, which is then divided into a variety of segments for greater insights. Hearts & Wallets Investor Quantitative™ (IQ™) Database provides timely, detailed data on asset distribution, assets by account type, behaviors and other data required to size business opportunities and support strategic decision-making. Portrait tracks increasing HH wealth across age and asset levels, examines investable asset breakdowns by taxable and retirement accounts, and tracks the four major components of HH wealth.

This year, the report also highlights the latest data from the IQ™ insight module, Household Finance, including employment, portfolio allocation, saving rate and saving allocation.

This report provides a comprehensive picture of needs and opportunities in financial caregiving. Featured data fields from the IQ™ Database include current, past and future expected caregiving responsibilities, likelihood to purchase support for certain financial caregiving tasks, and demographics on households (HHs) receptive to support. Other IQ™ fields include the concern of “ability of loved ones to manage their finances as they age,” attitudes on the responsibility of adult children to provide financial care for their aging parents and how aging parents feel about this. Also covered are difficulty with financial caregiving tasks and advice gaps. The report highlights the most recent data from the Retirement & Funding (R&F) module of IQ™ Database, including work/life vision, retirement ages and income sources (actual and anticipated), and other related fields to show how the increasing complexity of household retirement finance is contributing to rising demand for financial caregiving solutions.

This report tracks how U.S. households are using advice and technology for saving and investing advice and information. Some highlights include:

• Preference for self direction in investment decisions is at the lowest level since tracking began, with preference for “general contracting” -- at a peak.
• Consumers cut back on sources of information and advice, favoring themselves and advisors over other sources, including online and employers.
• In 2024, for the first time, mobile surpassed computers as the device of choice for online information and advice activities.
• Nationally, 8 in 10 households (79%) have taken a saving/investing action in the past year, with the most popular being saving more and purchasing insurance.

Attitudes & Sentiments 2024 is an annual look at U.S. household attitudes and behaviors relating to investing, and how goals and concerns have evolved in the past year.

Overall, households are feeling more optimistic about their finances, fueled by strong market performance. However, concerns over the US political environment and data security are very real and jump to the top of the list.  Concern over inflation remains high and continues to grow.  Also, consumers are increasingly seeing value in paying for financial advice, and interest in banking and investing at the same firm is one the rise.  Emerging themes include intergenerational finance and artificial intelligence (AI).

This Explore Qualitative™ report looks at how consumers combine different financial advice resources in managing their money. Most often a combination of sources and types are used. As observed in Hearts & Wallets’ 2024 focus groups, only about 1 in 5 “fully advised” participants rely on a single advisor. Hear from customers why it is important to categorize advice experiences, and set expectation on what different advice experiences deliver and how they are priced. 

This qualitative report is sourced from our June 2024 focus group series. We observed consumer reactions to "In-Plan Retirement Income Solutions," which are target date retirement funds in employer-sponsored plans that have an option to allocate up to 30% of the account balance to an annuity starting at age 55, providing a stream of lifetime income at retirement.

This report explores which financial tasks consumers find difficult, what they are most likely to seek advice on, and where the biggest advice gaps are. For example, 17% of households today find estate planning difficult but do not seek help. Advice gaps such as this represent an opportunity to provide help on a topic for consumers who find it difficult.

Key Findings include:

• Tasks are most difficult for the young. However, difficulty eases with age and assets. Nationally, the #1 most difficult task is “choosing appropriate investments."
  
• Tasks are not difficult in isolation. Most (68%) households who find one task very difficult also find 3+ tasks very difficult. Clustering of difficulties increases with assets.
  
• Seeking help is up, frequently for multiple tasks. The most avid advice-seekers use combinations of financial professionals and online resources that vary by generation.
  
• The biggest advice gaps in dollars are estate planning, “handling market volatility emotionally,” Roth conversion, buy/sell specific securities, balance goals and RMDs.
  
• Being prepared to help on multiple tasks yields a loyalty premium.

The 2024 Portrait™ of U.S. Household Wealth reports on the current breakdown of household wealth in America. This report is updated annually. As the number of HHs in America climb and investable assets approach $78T, understanding who controls this wealth increases in importance as you refine strategies and target markets. Use this report to size markets, identify target audiences, understand how real estate equity plays a significant role in total wealth, and the importance of providing advice.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. The symbiotic dynamics between stores and the products the stores sell has always been a topic of discussion -  who holds the power, and does the store or the product ultimately drive consumer purchase decisions. This qualitative report looks at this topic closely through customer verbatims in order to build a better understanding of what influences consumer purchase behavior. Select key findings include:

• Consumers buy products from stores
• Consumers see stores as more important and differentiation should happen at the store level
• The investment product is "going to get me the money I need"

Attitudes & Sentiments 2023 features a first look at our 2023 Investor Quantitative™ (IQ) Database survey data. This year's annual report examines U.S. household attitudes and behaviors relating to investing, and how goals and concerns have evolved in the face of continuing inflation and increasing worldwide conflicts.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. Given there is a high level of consumers confusion about pricing, we developed this qualitative report to look closely at their understanding and perception of pricing. Through the use of focus groups, we look at what services are considered worth paying for, and what are the preferred ways of paying for them. Here are some of the most significant learnings: 

• Today’s consumer talks about pricing more rationally than in the past, acknowledging that a company “needs to make money.” 
• Paying directly reduces “worry” about incentives. 
• Paying a flat fee or “commissions” is the preferred way to pay over a percentage of account value, and a flat fee is the preferred way to pay for financial planning.  

Our research shows that 20% of customers think their savings and investing solutions are free, so this report also explores consumer response to the word "free." Focus group consensus is that guidance and motivational support should be free, but personal financial planning should not be. Also, investment management services should not be free. 

Read this important report to learn more about how clients think of and respond to pricing - many dont know what they pay or how they pay.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This report is derived from our 2023 qualitative research that looks at what "simplify my finances" means to consumers and why this is #1 driver for moving money. Simplifying finances means different things to different people and few patterns emerge within traditional segmentations. It is influences by a number of things such as online experiences, hassle free user interfaces, easy access to live representatives and a single point of contact.  Simplicity, however, does not necessarily correlate with consolidation and using fewer firms - many consumers would like to do business at “one place,” but aggregation raises concerns.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This report is the first module of the 2023 Explore Qualitative Research and looks at Direct Indexing, considered by some to be the managed account product of the future. Read this report to learn more about how consumers understand and feel about direct indexing.

Direct indexing involves buying the individual stocks that make up an index, in the same weights as the index. This is another form of index investing and contrasts to index mutual funds or index exchange-traded funds (index ETFs) that track the index.

The 2023 Portrait™ of U.S. Household Wealth reports on the current breakdown of household wealth in America. This report is updated annually. Learn who controls the wealth by age and asset ranges through the Portrait Grid™.
Key finding highlights include:

• Nearly 130M households control $69.7T in investable assets, with growth in taxable now faster than retirement.
• Concentration of investable assets is increasing. In 2022, only 12% of total investable assets is controlled by households with <$500K.
• Households age 55+ control $51.4T. Among households with <$5M, Post-Retirees still dwarf all other lifestages in both asset and household terms.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. Consumers' approach to financial decision-making is evolving rapidly. They are consulting more sources of information than before, and technology continues to play an increasingly important role in how households interact with financial services firms. However, self-direction is at an all-time low, and paid investment professionals are still the go-to source for close to 50% of U.S. households. A possible implication is the need for firms to develop more advice and guidance solutions that combine in-person and technology support.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This report "Expectations from Workplace vs. Retail Advice" is sourced from the Hearts & Wallets Explore Qualitative™ Database. It looks at the attitudes of older affluent investors towards financial planning and investment services provided through the workplace compared to those of the retail market. It is part of the broader Explore Qualitative™ Series "Shopping for Advice on Aging Gracefully" - a collection of exercises and concept tests focused on the drivers of older consumers moving money, the changing needs of an aging population, and industry questions about pricing of advice for this segment. Additionally, the report covers various consumer segments on the Inside Advice^® Grid to help gain an understanding of behaviors relating to advice and guidance.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. “Elder Financial Care” provides insights into the future dynamics of periodic vs. subscription. This concept test provokes price discovery by first presenting two separately priced options with distinct features and then a blended option with ambiguity in payment mechanisms. Segmentation is by desired scope of advice among older, affluent investors who are shopping for advice.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. “Home Conversion Mortgage” aka Reverse Mortgage explores awareness and receptivity to using mortgages for aging in place, employing a disguised name to avoid pre-conceived notions about reverse mortgages.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This Explore Qualitative™ Report examines the top reasons consumers say they keep cash, and what could motivate them to move cash into investments. It is an Explore Exercise, meaning it is a structured exploration of a topic that is emerging as strategically important to help identify future actions. The series of which this report is part, Shopping for Advice on Aging Gracefully, explores the increase in older consumers moving money, changing needs of an aging population, and industry-level questions about pricing of advice and high levels of cash. The demographic for this series is investors ages 53-70 with >$500K investable assets (>$250K outside workplace) who are actively involved in money movement, segmented by Desired Scope and Service Ranges on Inside Advice® Grid. As with all Explore Qualitative™ Reports, the underlying data in this report are consumer comments.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This Explore Qualitative™ Report examines how investors want to access and pay for various pieces of financial advice and service. It is an Explore Concept Test, meaning it reveals consumer reactions to a product or service that could be commercialized soon or is newly in-market. The series of which this report is part, Shopping for Advice on Aging Gracefully, explores the increase in older consumers moving money, changing needs of an aging population, and industry-level questions about pricing of advice and high levels of cash. The demographic for this series is investors ages 53-70 with >$500K investable assets (>$250K outside workplace) who are actively involved in money movement, segmented by Desired Scope and Service Ranges on Inside Advice® Grid. As with all Explore Qualitative™ Reports, the underlying data in this report are consumer comments.