Hands-On Experience Quickly Builds Investor Identity
With an eye toward the racial and gender wealth gap, there is an opportunity to fundamentally shift and expand capital market investing by inspiring the professional asset management community to make it more inclusive for historically underserved individuals.
Our latest brief, Transforming Investor Identity, provides an initial look at Commonwealth’s groundbreaking national pilot in which more than 800 first-time investors—primarily women of color—received seed funding to begin investing. In less than a year of investing, 63% of participants agreed with the statement that “before I started investing, I thought it would be more difficult than it actually is.” For providers, this shift in mindset highlights the importance of hands-on experience not just as a means of learning, but as a means of overcoming preconceptions that can prevent people from building wealth through investing.
Through this year-long study, with support from Nasdaq Foundation’s New Investor Initiative, and in partnership with three leading investing platforms—Ellevest, Public, and Stash—Commonwealth is learning how investor identity develops in new investors. As the research progresses, we will turn this innovative research into actionable guidance to drive shifts through the investing industry.