2024 Global Retail Investor Outlook 2025

Key terminology Term Definition (as used in this report) Advice gap The gap between the level of accessible, affordable and suitable financial advisory and wealth management services available and the level needed or desired by individuals. AI chatbot A software application powered by artificial intelligence (AI) designed to simulate human like conversations. AI chatbots use natural language processing (NLP) to understand user questions and generate answers. AI chatbots can recognize, summarize, translate and create content in response to a user’s query without the need for human interaction. Financial advice Recommendations, guidance or expertise provided by professionals to help individuals make informed decisions about managing their finances, achieving financial goals and navigating financial situations. Finfluencer Short for “financial influencer” and refers to an individual who uses social media to share information, recommendations, guidance or opinions on investing, financial news or other related matters. Financial literacy The knowledge and understanding of financial concepts and risks, and the skills, motivation and confidence to apply such knowledge and understanding to make effective decisions across a range of financial contexts, improve the financial well-being of individuals and society, and enable participation in economic life. Financial well-being A state of being wherein a person can fully meet current and ongoing financial obligations and feel secure about their financial future. Home country bias A phenomenon where retail investors overweight their home country with respect to a well-diversified international portfolio.Term Definition (as used in this report) Industry/ecosystem The investment industry and/or ecosystem refers to the system of entities that enables financial services professionals and investors to make, hold and manage investments. Entities include investors, platforms (e.g. brokerages and wealth managers), institutional investors, orders execution infrastructure, regulators, and governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Market democratization The increased ability of an individual to access capital markets related to the newfound availability of information, access to investing platforms and financial products overall. Optimal portfolio An optimal portfolio aims to achieve the greatest possible returns with an acceptable level of risk or lowest possible risk while guaranteeing a certain return, suitable to several factors unique to the individual, including but not limited to, level of investable assets, current and projected income, investment horizon, risk tolerance, financial objectives and values alignment. Retail investing Retail investing, as defined in this paper, includes any form of investment activity that involves decision-making by the individual. This includes employer-sponsored defined contribution plans but does not include government pensions. Retail investing includes, but is not limited to: –Investing via a brokerage, fund company or consumer-facing platform –Investing through an adviser, including when the adviser trades on an individual’s behalf –Investing in self-directed plans (e.g. for retirement or higher education) Retail portfolio The total collection of investments and cash held by an individual, including various asset types (e.g. stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.), managed through professional wealth managers or via investment vehicles such as brokerage accounts or retirement funds. 2024 Global Retail Investor Outlook 12