In Italy, 43% of retail investors invest digitally (fully or partially), a percentage that rises to 64% globally. This is what emerges from an international survey by Amundi which involved 4.186 retail investors aged between 21 and 60 in 11 European and Asian markets to understand how they invest, why they invest and how they do it.
Digital widespread across all age groups, Italians rely on financial consultancy
According to research, digital usage is high in all age groups, but becomes even higher among wealthier investors. In percentage terms, 66% of retail investors aged between 21 and 30 invest at least part of their portfolio digitally, while a slightly lower figure is recorded in the range between 50 and 60 years (59%) .
An average retail investor usually invests more than that half (53%) of their portfolio digitally without engaging the services of an investment professional. However, investors continue to rely on qualified financial advice, with 2 in 5 respondents turning to a professional advisor when investing a sum equal to a year's salary, almost five times more than those turning to social media . In this context, Italy is the country where retail investors resort to the most financial advice, although looking at the gender difference we note that men are less likely to access professional consultancy than women (65% compared to 58% of men).
Amundi: use of digital on the rise in the next 5 years
According to Amundi, “levels of digital usage are very likely to increase over the next five years: almost half of digital retail investors expect an increase in the percentage of your digital investments”. The increase could be driven by the wealthier retail investors and with greater awareness, a figure which however differs from country to country: it ranges from 60% of investors in Switzerland and Singapore to 31% in France and 35% in Italy.
On average, 38% of those with investable assets of less than 20.000 euros plan to increase the percentage of their portfolio invested digitally, a percentage that rises to 55% among those with investable assets of more than 150.000 euros.
Self-confidence plays a decisive role
The research highlights how lto self-confidence on the part of investors has a significant role in the greater use of digital: 56% of those who believe they are making the right decisions regarding savings and investment expect to increase the percentage of their portfolio invested digitally, compared to 27% of those who feel less safe.
Much the same happens with regards to values and responsible investments: 71% of confident investors declare that it is important or essential that their opinions are reflected in investment decisions, compared to 46% of less confident investors.
Wide gender gap also in digital investments
The financial and investment industry must also “take measures to encourage a greater involvement and inclusion of women who invest, to ensure that the gender gap in investments does not increase further", underlines Amundi. In Italy, for example, women are much less inclined to invest digitally (35%) than men (51%).
Overall, only 16% of women investors are fully confident they are making the right financial decisions, while 27% believe they are poorly informed.
Gender also affects product choices: women are much more likely to invest in a savings account or in fixed-term investment solutions than men (44% versus 34%) and much less likely to invest in ETFs (26% versus 36%), often because they don't know how to do it.
“Intermediaries have the opportunity to support and encourage the acquisition of a larger share of women's wealth if they commit to addressing this trust and information gap.”
Digital investments in Italy
As regards Italy, as mentioned, 43% of investors invest digitally (fully or partially). The research shows that Italians are among the least likely to invest through a neobank (9%) or a robo-advice app (3%).
Compared to the EU average (46%) three out of five Italian retail investors (61%) currently use the services of a professional financial advisor.
Finally, it should be noted that only 17% of Italian retail investors plan to invest more in the next 12 months. The reason? “The decrease in disposable income is the key factor that for almost half (47%) of Italian retail investors explains the reduction in investment in 2024,” explains the research.
Finally, on the subject of sustainability, 58% of Italian retail investors hold ESG or sustainable funds in their portfolio, a percentage slightly higher than the global average (53%). Younger investors are driving the adoption of ESG, with a much higher share of ESG investments among investors aged between 21 and 30 (71%) compared to the over 50s (47%). Renewable energy, healthcare and climate transition are at the top of the list of ESG themes in which Italian retail investors would like to invest more, on the contrary, weapons production, deforestation, tobacco and plastic are at the top of the list of industries they would like to avoid.
Ilaria Pisani, Head of Sales ETF, Indexing & Smart Beta of Amundi SGR, commented on the Italian data as follows: “The research conducted by Amundi on the subject of investment methods by retail customers highlights in Italy significant gender differences regarding, for example, the use of digital solutions and the use of professional consultancy. Knowing this data is of great importance for orienting the marketing approach and consultancy activity in a targeted way on the needs and knowledge gaps of customers, thus increasing their satisfaction".
