2. A Trillion Here, A Trillion There
US-registered investment companies (RICs) (open-end mutual funds, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds [ETFs] and unit investment funds [UITs]) held assets of $22.51 trillion as of the end of 2017, a 17.1% increase from 2016’s $19.22 trillion.
Mutual funds and ETFs represented $22.1 trillion of the total, with 43% in domestic equity funds; 21%, bond funds; 16%, world equity funds; 13%, money market funds; and 7%, hybrid and other funds, including commodities, currencies and futures.
At the end of 2017, US-registered investment companies managed 24% of household financial assets, as households are the largest group of fund investors.

3. Americans Love to Invest in Funds
According to the Q Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism survey, 54% of survey respondents ranked stock index funds/mutual funds/ETFs as the best long-term investments (of 10 years or more).
86% said they currently had money invested in stock index funds/mutual funds/ETFs; followed by savings accounts/CDs, 80%; individual stocks, 61%; bonds, 48%; real estate investments (not including primary home), 30%; gold 11%.
In the real-estate category, 57% of Americans said home ownership was the best property investment, with 28% citing the ownership of rental property and 15%, real estate stocks/mutual funds.

4. High-Net-Worth Individuals Look for Growth
During 2017, the percentage of HNWIs worldwide (at least $1 million in liquid financial assets) increased 9.5% to 18.1 million, with 5.7 million in North America, a 9.9% increase from 2016, and second only to Asia- Pacific, at 6.2 million, a 12.1% increase.
Of the $70.2 trillion in HNWIs’ financial wealth, HNWIs in North America held $19.8 trillion and those in the Asia- Pacific region, $21.6 trillion, with increases of 10.3% and 14.8%, respectively, from 2016.
Ultra-HNWIs (at least $30 million in liquid financial assets) registered the largest increases during 2017, with 11.2% more of them globally and 12.0% more wealth.

5. Younger Adults Invest Differently
Millennials are projected to have a total net worth of $24 trillion by 2020, but fewer of them trust “traditional” Wall Street and are turning to direct-to-consumer investment startups, such as Robinhood, Stash, Betterment, Acorns and others.
Another example of how Millennials are turning from traditional Wall Street is more of them hold Square, the mobile payments company, among the top financial brand stocks and many have a global perspective, making significant investments in China.
According to EVERFI’s Next Generation of Financial Capability report of more than 100,000 incoming college students, 41% had not checked their checking-account balance during the past year and only 43% used a budget to manage their finances.

6. Satisfaction Reports
According to WealthManagement.com’s annual Independent Broker/Dealer Report Card Survey, IBDs rated their overall satisfaction with their firm at 9 (on a 1-to-10 scale), just a small statistical difference from last year’s 8.96.
Although “unresponsiveness of my business needs” was the top reason advisors say they would work for another firm, 85.5% said they were very likely to be still affiliated with their current broker/dealer during 2020.
J.D. Power reports in its 2018 U.S. Full-Service Investor Satisfaction Study that Charles Schwab remained #1 in overall investor satisfaction; however, Fidelity Investments which was #2 in the 2017 study was #6 in the newest results, Edward Jones was #2.

7. Maintaining the Pace of Tech
In the Charles Schwab Consumer Digital Demands report (October 2018), a majority of survey respondents, or 55%, said they are “comfortable with more human assistance than automation” to create financial plan and 52% managing an investment portfolio.
Unsurprisingly, Millennials more than their older counterparts would be comfortable with more automation than human assistance to manage an investment portfolio, at 27%, compared to Generation X, 19%, and Baby Boomers, 12%.
Although more Americans prefer human assistance than automation, 60% said they would spend more time investing if “the smaller tasks were automated” and “they had smarter online tools to guide them through the process.”

8. Advertising Strategies
With financial advisory firms considering community involvement the most-effective marketing tactic, you have an opportunity to invite them to participate in the community projects your station sponsors and/or promotes.
Ask your news director and/or the producer of a local talk show on your station to consider scheduling a financial advisor to appear before or immediately after the first of the year to share tax- season-preparation tips.
Suggest to your promotions department that it partner with a local financial planner to create and offer a free financial educational seminar at a local university or college to help college-age students do a better job of managing their finances.

9. New Media Strategies
With blogs and writing a column considered highly effective marketing tactics, invite financial advisors to place ads on your station’s financial news Web page with the title of their current blog post or article and a live link to it on their Website or blog.
The free financial educational seminar for college students can also be repurposed as a series of short video posts promoted and viewable on YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat.
Suggest local financial planners/advisors create a series of short social media posts (which could also be videos) that explain some of the more important financial terms and concepts, such as equities, commodities, mutual funds, ETFs, REITs, bonds, etc.