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.

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The industry continues to consolidate and assets are concentrated at the largest firms. Additionally, consumers have more savings and investing relationships than in the past. All of these dynamics has made it more and more difficult to acquire new customers, capture new assets and increase share of wallet. This report looks at consumer relationships with stores, who is on the leader board for reach, share of wallet, share of assets, and trust. and recommends ways for all the other stores to gain share of wallet despite the headwinds. Bottom line - it is all tied to advice & guidance and cross-selling different account types. Read more

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.

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Today, nearly two thirds of U.S. households are involved in intergenerational wealth transfer, with an estimated $17.5T changing hands over the next 20 years. Additionally, one in four U.S. households have funded trusts. Obviously there are implications for all financial service firms. This report looks at wealth transfer, family conversations about wealth transfer, who's planning to bequeath and inherit, and the use of trusts. One big takeaway - these topics are no longer just for the wealthy. Read more

This report examines patterns in household savings, trends in household asset allocation, behaviors that indicate financial wellness, and a key pitfall of most workplace and retail advice experiences. More households are saving more than at any time since 2012, with 30% of households saving 10%+ of income, nearly double 17% in 2012. Consumer use of liquid accounts has increased more than other account types, with the household use of taxable brokerage accounts growing up to 37% of households from 31% in 2021 and 29% in 2020. Of the solid financial behaviors that lead to better asset accumulation, contributing regularly to a retirement savings plan is currently the most difficult to adopt, with only 43% of households reporting that they “have a retirement savings plan and contribute to it regularly." Though having insurance needs covered is another important key indicator of financial wellness, most customer experiences today do not address this possible pitfall—presenting an opportunity to deliver advice more efficiently. Learn more

Today, 129M households make decisions $68.6T in investable assets, with 2 of 3 dollars in taxable accounts and the remainder in retirement. The 2022 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™. This research is the foundation of all market sizing at Hearts & Wallets. Use this report to size and refine your target markets using the TAM, SAM SOM methodology. Read more

A lot is going on! Inflation is at record highs, markets are down, Russia and China are center stage of geopolitical instability, and there is talk of a recession. Just released 2022 survey data reveals the top consumer attitudes, sentiments, concerns and goals, so you can see whats top of mind for your customers and where the opportunities lie. Here are a few stats: 46% of US households have high concern about inflation. And 1/3rd of these consumers are holding more than 90% of their assets in cash as buying power erodes. But more and more consumers feel their advisor is a partner to them, underscoring the value of advice and guidance in the face of the current headwinds. Read more

This report covers how investors are making investment decisions today, specifically looking at their their reliance on information sources including financial advisors and technology. Consumers of all asset groups want more involvement in investment decisions, but financial professionals are still the most influential source of investing information and advice. Learn more on what it means for you as an asset manager and a distributor. Read more

This report looks at common gaps seen in lower level advice and guidance experiences, and how the leading experiences match the realities and challenges of real life. Topics covered include modeling for spouses, partners, and dependents; employment patterns and changing jobs; unplanned life events; optimizing taxes for the long term, and more. Read more

Ownership of managed investment solutions including mutual funds, ETFs and robos grew in the past year. Does this mean investors are now seeking more professional investment management vs. relying on doing it themselves - especially given the current state of the market? Possibly, but individual stocks are now the most widely owned investment type, and trading activity spiked in the past year. This report explores both of these trends in detail, including which segments are driving each, and where the opportunities lie for asset managers, distributors and discount brokerage firms. Additionally, given the current market volatility, we have included a special section on how managed solutions help investors cope with handling market volatility. Read more

U.S. consumer trust in relationships with financial services firms is at the highest levels since tracking began. Despite this, most continue to reduce their share of wallet with their primary store through opening new accounts and establishing relationships with new firms. In fact, maintaining multiple saving and investing relationships is the predominant consumer behavior. This report examines how many financial relationships consumers now have, which segments seem to be more and less loyal, and what to consider when trying to acquire and retain clients in a time of greater choice and changing behavior. Read more

Nearly 50% of US households are interested in or use use fractional shares, approximately 25% use crypto, and 20% use securities-based lines of credit. What some would consider riskier investment products are on the rise -- especially with the younger generations. This report explores consumer trends related to these emerging products. Read more

There is power to planning - planners save and invest more, find fewer financial tasks challenging, have more diversified and appropriately allocated portfolios, and are more confident in their financial situation. This report looks at who plans by generation, lifestage, wealth group and marital status. It also looks at what inspires a consumer to plan and the most common resources used. Read more

This report pulls from the new 2021 data on consumer attitudes towards saving, investing and advice. Investor sentiment is now at the highest level in a decade! Overall, people feel more positive about their finances despite concerns over inflation, the U.S. deficit and taxes. There is a renewed focus on investment goals, an increased interest in paying for professional financial advice and knowing which asset managers are managing their money. Read more

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. Learn more

This report covers the demographic breakdown of household wealth in America. U.S retail investors control $68.3T in investable assets. This is at an all time high but there is an unprecedented concentration of wealth in higher asset households. Learn who controls the wealth by life stage and asset level through the Portrait Grid™. This research is the foundation of all market sizing at Hearts & Wallets. This report covers the demographic breakdown of household wealth in America and features the Hearts & Wallets Portrait Grid™. Learn who controls the wealth by life stage and asset level Read more

New brokerage accounts are on the rise, more investors are trading stocks and cryptocurrencies, and environmental, social & governance (ESG) as an investment goal is growing in popularity among some very specific market segments. But, mutual fund and packaged product ownership across all wealth groups is on the decline, consumers struggle to identify their investment goals, and many are moving away from relying on financial professionals. This is especially concerning for lower asset Americans, who are at risk of missing out on creating wealth through safer, professionally managed products. This report looks at trends in online brokerage accounts and trading, the use of cryptocurrencies, investor goals & product ownership, and why getting back to basics may be good for everyone. Read more

The past year has many investors rethinking their plans. This report explores changes in target retirement ages; aspirations and reality for income replacement rates and the importance of advice; anticipated sources of retirement income for those approaching retirement compared to actual sources for those already retired; and a profile of the "Aspire to Retire by 55" group. Key Findings Include: - Even as more households want to “work full time as long as health permits,” target retirement dates are moving younger. - Ambitions for replacement rates have increased, but assets-to-income ratios show most people are still very unprepared for the end of full-time work. - Future retirees anticipate combining more sources of income than current retirees. The more income sources consumers have, the more value they see in paying for advice. - More households report participating in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. More generous matches increase overall household saving rate, especially at lower income levels. Saving into employer plans is up. - There are about 11M households in the “Aspire to Retire by 55” design target. Well positioned in some ways, these households need help to achieve this goal. Read more

As consumers want more involvement in their investment decisions, and delegation has decreased to an all-time low, consumer appetite for “seeking input from various sources” has increased to an all-time high. Those who are blending advice from financial professionals and online sources, first research online and then validate with financial professionals. This report explores the reasons for these trends and potential strategies to match these behaviors. The report also looks at the activities consumers are doing online – what is most common, what is growing, what is shrinking, and what devices (mobile vs. computer) they are choosing for specific types of information. For example, in 2020, engagement with online planning tools and calculators declined at the same time we are experiencing a rise in use of mobile across the board. Behaviors by wealth level and age group suggest on-line planning tools may not be keeping up with usage trends in technology. Read more

COVID-19 has resulted in increased financial actions by consumers. Savings is on the top of the list for many with one in 5 households creating an emergency fund for the first time. This report looks at who is taking action, what they are doing, and the goals for the various segments of savers. Here are a few of the take-aways: Households whose work was affected by the COVID-19 crisis were more likely to have taken actions than households with no work disruption. Gen-X, Millennials and the New Generation have been much more active with financial responses to COVID-19 than the Silents and Boomers. We have classified savers into five segments beyond the traditional age-based categories that combine behavior, attitudes and household finances. Among the findings, "Big Savers" are the most valuable customers today, but "Aspiring Savers - High Potential" are looking to make changes in their financial lives and could be valuable over the long haul. Investment firms have the greatest reach with the Big Savers and banks have it with the Aspiring Savers - High Potential. Read more

The Hearts & Wallets Attitudes & Sentiment report annually tracks key consumer sentiments, goals and attitudes that are relevant to financial services firms and their strategic decisions. This year, we examine the impact of COVID-19 – how the initial shock and ongoing reactions have changed the consumer mindset and what it means for savings, investing and advice solutions. One in 3 consumers say “the COVID-19 crisis has changed their attitudes towards saving and investing,” and firms should provide appropriate outreach to this group. Nationally, since the onset of the crisis, consumer optimism regarding their financial futures has bounced back for some but not others. Many are setting goals again but are focused on the short term. And, receptivity to advice is warming with a renewed interest in banking, savings solutions and packaged products. Read more

The language of investing is complex. Despite all the efforts within the industry to simplify it and make investing concepts more easily understood, we are failing. Investors are still confused - 81% consumers lack financial fluency. This report looks at the language of investing and who does and does not understand it; how workplace plan participants are particularly challenged; and the implications of confusion and the associated opportunities. Read more

This second COVID-19 tracking supplement examines the pandemic’s impact to health, work, saving investing and advice behaviors, connecting to core fields from Investor Quantitative™ Database. Over 29 million households have 1 or more partners out of work, which has significantly impact consumer’s finances and attitudes. As a result of the extraordinary levels of unemployment, report findings are weighted for unemployment, in addition to age and assets, to ensure that the voices of the unemployed were counted adequately in the national figures. The report covers financial goals, economic concerns, attitudes toward financial advice and advisors, sources of advice, spending, saving, financial responses, and consumer attitudes toward public policy. Read more

The annual Portrait™of U.S. Household Wealth gives you the power to size segments of U.S retail investors and understand the demand for solutions in the context of the total market. This sizing report provides new data on consumer households and the assets they control by age, wealth groups, lifestage and generation, drawn from government resources and the Hearts & Wallets Investor Quantitative™ Database. This year's report features market sizing on women, the retirement income market and emerging savers. Read more

This special tracking appendix examines the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on U.S. consumer finances, attitudes and behaviors. This just-fielded data reveals impacts by generation, asset level, and work and health status. The analysis looks at income and spending cut-backs, changes in goals and financial actions, changes to investment mix and more. Read more

Understand financial pain points that can shape products and services to support action taking. This report analyzes the level of difficulty consumers have with key financial tasks, rates of seeking help, and actions consumers are taking and plan to take in the future. Read more

Get the full picture on consumer goals, sentiments, concerns and attitudes toward saving and investing to guide strategy and inform decisions. Read more

“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. Learn more

This report analyzes U.S. household asset allocation, product types, online brokerage and awareness of asset managers. Learn about the dynamics between high cash and investor confusion. The last third of the report taps into 30 metrics that track asset managers to reveal consumer-reported awareness of shareholder awareness and top performer asset managers. Read more

This report analyzes household involvement in inheritances, incidence of small funded trust accounts and impact on a variety of attitudes and wants. Find out what types of family conversations about money are occurring and who is driving them. See quantifiable benefits of partner retirement planning. Read more

Trends covered in this report include changes in the age of stopping work, working part-time, the role of real estate as both a big spending type and an asset. The importance of human capital and blending income sources comes to life in a pre/post-retirement spending analysis, metrics on changes in consumer saving behaviors, and discussion of shortcomings of traditional retirement preparedness metrics. Read more

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. Read more

This section of the IQ Database covers the foundation of household finance. It begins with employment, since the ability to deploy human capital for income in labor markets is the foundation of wealth accumulation for most people. Written for industry practitioners rather than academics, this report uses national statistics to set context, analyzes lifestage, investable asset segments, and specific groups where appropriate, such as households with one or more partners working "gigs," and includes commentary on implications for saving, investing and advice. This report covers spending, by type, and saving, to complete the picture of household budget. Statistics and analysis of debt and real estate round out the picture of consumer household finance. Read more

This highly sought-after report is Hearts & Wallets' annual market sizing study. The Portrait Grid™ is the foundation for sizing market opportunities. Gain actionable estimates of households and investable assets for the addressable U.S. retail investor market. Size by lifestage and generation, or with fact-based sizing exercises on personal advice shoppers. This report draws from the Hearts & Wallets IQ Database, which contains consumer buying pattern insights on 45,000 U.S. households, as well as U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Consumer Finances, Federal Reserve Flow of Funds and Hearts & Wallets analysis. Read more

This report uses the traditional three-point spectrum from self-direction to delegation as a springboard for a deeper examination of consumer behaviors using 15 sources of advice. The analysis at reliance on each source reveals that stated preference and behavior often diverge. The findings quantify "hybrid" users of advice, meaning consumers who use both online and people, tracking growth nationally, and provides current statistics for 36 cohorts of age and investable asset groups. Digging deeper into use of technology, the report tracks 10+ online activities, by computer and mobile. This report analyzes reliance on 15 sources of saving and investment information and advice, and 13 online activities by device. This year's report includes a special section that analyzes the connection between mobile payments and use of mobile for saving, investing and advice. Read more

This report presents findings from the latest cycle of Inside Advice® Benchmarking. It includes the popular Top 10 Trends in advice and guidance, a resource for many senior management discussions with key insights, trends and best practices on financial wellness, personalization, pricing and other findings. This report presents aggregated benchmarks by service level and selected analysis of workplace vs. retail. Read more

Know your market. This highly sought-after annual market sizing provides estimates for current and projected total households and investable assets for the addressable U.S. retail investor market. These essential building blocks help to prioritize initiatives. The analysis draws from government data, Hearts & Wallets Investor Quantitative™ Database fields and expert Hearts & Wallets proprietary analysis. Learn more