Overheard on Twitter…
“Change is inevitable. Growth is intentional.”
– Glenda Cloud
In this week’s email:
- In One Chart: How every major asset has performed in the first half of 2023
- Why Gen Z and Millennials are in a bit of a pickle (and where advisors fit in)
- A new app that connects investors with…TikTok stock pickers?
PLUS…everything we’ve been reading and watching this week!
Markets 📈
Investors and traders closed the books Friday on the first half of 2023
The chart above provides a quick glance at how all major assets have performed over the past 6 and 18 months.
If you go back to the start of 2022, you’ll notice that the winners are slim (and far between).
However, the first half of 2023 has offered some financial healing, with the Nasdaq composite leading the way, up more than 30% year-to-date.
More Market Reading 📈 |
🔥 What’s fueling the rally in mega-cap tech stocks?
🚀 They said we were getting a recession. Are we getting a bull market?
😬 Banking crisis has eased but, credit crunch still threatens U.S. economy
👀 As bitcoin hits $30,000, BlackRock aims sights at crypto
Industry Roundup 🧠
Gen Z and Millennials are in a bit of a pickle. 🤷
They crave financial wisdom, but aren’t quite sure how to access it.
Digital natives are driving the FinTech revolution, yet when it comes to seeking financial advice…they’re hitting the proverbial brick wall 🧱
According to a recent Harris Poll where people were asked to spill the beans on their financial advice needs and retirement savings status…
…82% of Gen Z and 84% of Millennials admit their need for financial advice.
But here’s the kicker, a whopping 76% of Gen Z and 71% of Millennials have NOT made a move to get the advice they need.
The roadblocks? 👇
They can’t find the right advisor for their needs (38% of Gen Z and 27% of Millennials).
Or they simply don’t think they have enough coins in their piggy banks to bring a financial advisor on board (33% of Gen Z and 31% of Millennials).
Retirement savings, or lack thereof, is another pickle.
53% of Americans have less than $100,000 stashed away for their golden years or worse, no savings at all.
“Younger generations, set to be the next wealth accumulators, need easy, tech-friendly access to professional financial advice,” says Lisa Jacobs of intelliflo.
She follows that up by saying, “Advisors that don’t pivot to this digital demand could be risking losing out to innovative alternatives.”
More Industry Reading 🧠 |
👭 How advisors can work with “middle-class millionaire” women
⭐ Is the Fed ‘overreaching’ with potential annuity sales crackdown?
💵 The secret to 29% MORE spending power in retirement?
🤖 Are your clients insured against cyber threats?
Deep Dive 🔎
24-year-old tech entrepreneur Cole discusses how his Follow app is allowing investors to copy the money moves of the internet’s most popular financial influencers.
24-year-old tech entrepreneur Miles Cole recently sat down for a highly-anticipated interview that had advisors across the industry listening intently.
His company, Follow, has a solution that he believes ‘bridges the gap’ between financial influencers – a.k.a. “finfluencers” – and actual investing.
The app helps investors copy money moves of popular voices on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, and implement them in their own portfolios.
While the concept might sound a bit crazy on the surface, Follow has already secured $9 million in funding since launching just 90 days ago.
Cole, a former Princeton student, knows the app is still in its infancy and will likely undergo several pivots before finding its groove.
But regardless of where things go from here, he sees real potential for offering content on retirement advice and personal finance by “meeting users where they are – which is very often on social media apps.”
Cole describes the app as a “two-sided marketplace.”
One one side, you have the financial influencers and traders.
Then you have the consumer demand side.
Users can subscribe to different financial “leaders” and sync up their own stock portfolios to automatically mirror trades within their personal brokerage accounts.
This may or may not be the future of investment advice – let’s not get into that debate.
But here’s what I think we, as advisors, should be considering…
Gen Z and young millennials might not have a ton of assets right now.
But they will eventually become your target market. (The Great Wealth Transfer is coming…fast!)
And if tomorrow’s clients are already conditioned to go to social media and apps for investment advice…what are YOU doing to meet them there?
We need to be looking 3-5 years down the road to think about how we can align with the way our prospective clients seek financial advice.
Follow could be a major flop.
(You won’t catch me hitching my portfolio to some guy Tweeting from his mom’s basement 😂)
But pay attention to what happens…and be willing to try new techniques when trends evolve.
The Best Thing I Saw All Week
Cragun Foulger, an avid adventurer, spent years dreaming of completing the 45-mile hike along the west coast of Vancouver Island.
But after months of planning the trip, his hike was in jeopardy when an airline gave his suitcase with all of his gear the old “disappearing act.”
Distraught, Craig bared his soul on a BC hiking Facebook group to let them know he wouldn’t be making the trip after all.
But that’s when his community rallied around him.
Out poured offers of tents, poles, backpacks, and sleeping bags.
A team of 19 virtual strangers saved the day, allowing Craig to complete the hike.
He completed the trek and made many new friends along the way.
The experience was “beyond what I could have imagined,” Craig said.
Enjoy your Sunday,
Jeremiah D. Desmarais
CEO, Advisorist
#1 in ROI-Driven Training for Advisors
P.S. Want to nominate an early-career FA for Financial Planning’s 2023 Rising Star Awards?
(You can even nominate yourself, if you’re under 30 😉)
