How the Wealthy Research Investments

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How the Wealthy Research Investments

In today’s world of information abundance, investors have a slew of options available when it comes to investment research. Whether you’re talking about examining financial statements or sorting through the plethora of analyst opinions, investors are limited only by the amount of time they’d like to devote to research. Just as consumers conduct research before purchasing a big ticket item, such as a car or a computer, investors conduct investment research in order to make informed decisions that will hopefully lead to higher returns.

Seventy-three percent (73%) “strongly agree” or “agree” that they are satisfied with the investment research that’s currently available to them. Advisor dependent investors are particularly satisfied with the research that’s available to them, evidenced by the 83% of this category that fall into the top two box, and 65% that fall into the top box. Overall, retirees are more satisfied (78%) with the content of research available to them compared to non-retirees (69%), owing perhaps to the age difference there, and the fact that those younger are more Internet savvy and aware of the information, or lack thereof, online.

Only a minority of the affluent investors surveyed (22%) find it difficult to navigate through the research materials that are currently available, both online and hard copy. Unsurprisingly, relative to other advisor dependency segments, the event driven and advisor dependent segments are less adept at evaluating research on their own. The proportion of investors aged 66 that are confused (28%) is statistically significantly higher than for younger investors, again, pointing to a certain comfort level with online sources of information.

As might be expected, younger investors are more likely to utilize technology. The likelihood of website usage increases significantly as age decreases. The same applies to podcasts, and to a lesser extent, blogs. Conversely, seminars appeal more to older investors, perhaps finding comfort in person-to-person information exchange. In addition to the mode of delivery, the content calls to different groups of investors. For example, younger investors will tend to have an asset accumulation mindset, and thus can take more risk, while the oldest investors might be looking for appropriate investments that will meet their retirement income needs.

Both of these groups are looking for content that meets their needs. The younger investors, more socially media conscious, will use “word of mouth” to communicate to other younger, wealthier investors what works for them. Keeping abreast of peer reviewed industry news and information sources can be a great way to discover new treasure troves of research. Check out sites like StumbleUpon.com, Digg.com, and Delicious.com to see what others have already found useful.

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