Navigating a New Era of Investor Behavior: What FINRA’s Latest Study Reveals  

Overview

Listen

The FINRA Foundation’s newest National Financial Capability Study offers a snapshot of how U.S. investors are recalibrating their attitudes, information sources, and expectations. Listen to Red Oak's perspective on the study in this quick chat.

Critical Questions Powered by Red Oak

Firms can adapt by delivering timely, relevant, and compliant content that directly addresses investors’ growing risk sensitivity and questions about market volatility. Centralizing review, supervision, and distribution—ideally through an integrated compliance platform—helps teams respond faster and maintain consistency, ensuring advisors always have vetted materials ready when investor sentiment shifts. 

Advisors need access to clear, practical guidance that demystifies emerging products while staying rooted in risk-aware fundamentals. Tools such as content libraries, automated review workflows, and searchable compliant education (like Red Oak’s 4U platform) allow advisors to quickly find accurate information, anticipate client questions, and communicate confidently even in fast-moving categories like crypto. 

Firms should strengthen supervision systems that can handle the nuance and velocity of social channels—including influencer partnerships, personality-driven content, and non-public investor interactions. At the same time, they should empower advisors with compliant, easy-to-share digital materials that meet investors where they already are online, maintaining both engagement and regulatory confidence. 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00 

Welcome to the deep dive. Today we're sifting through a really compelling stack of sources, uh basically designed to give you a clear view of the modern investor. 

Speaker 2: 0:09 

Yes, specifically how behavior is changing. 

Speaker 1: 0:11 

Exactly. We've merged some high-level data from the FINRA Foundation's new national financial capability study with uh real-time observations from the front lines. 

Speaker 2: 0:22 

Right, from the financial industry's own content platforms. It's an ideal pairing, really. 

Speaker 1: 0:27 

Why is that? 

Speaker 2: 0:28 

Well, we're moving beyond just serving what people say they feel. We're combining that with what investors and you know their advisors are actually searching for online. 

Speaker 1: 0:38 

Okay. So it gives us a clearer picture of the gap between intent and action. 

Speaker 2: 0:42 

Precisely. 

Speaker 1: 0:44 

And that's the mission today to understand how US investors, you are quickly recalibrating not just your risk tolerance, but also where you go for info and what kind of advice you trust in what FINRA calls a new era. 

Speaker 2: 0:55 

In this deep dive, it reveals three, I'd say, powerful and sometimes conflicting dynamics. First, there's a broad, um, accelerating pullback in investor risk tolerance, just a general sense of caution. Okay. Second, we see this fascinating divergence in behavior around complex assets, particularly crypto. Retail interest is cooling, but advisor education demand is just spiking. 

Speaker 1: 1:19 

And advisor investor disconnect. 

Speaker 2: 1:20 

A big one. And third, the shift towards social media and finfluencers as a primary source of information is well, it's undeniable now, and deeply consequential. 

Speaker 1: 1:31 

That sets the stage perfectly. Let's start with that first one: the contracting risk appetite. The data shows investor willingness to take big risks for higher returns is pulling back a lot. 

Speaker 2: 1:42 

It truly is. When a FINRA asked investors if they were willing to take substantial risks in 2024, only 8% said yes. 

Speaker 1: 1:49 

Only 8%. And just for context, what was that number before? 

Speaker 2: 1:52 

Well, you compare that to the figure from just three years prior, which was 12 percent. 

Speaker 1: 1:56 

So it's a one-third drop. 

Speaker 2: 1:57 

It is. You're seeing a significant loss of confidence or you know, maybe a return to prudence. Depends on how you look at it. 

Speaker 1: 2:03 

And if you drill down into the demographics, the picture gets even starker. 

Speaker 2: 2:07 

Right. 

Speaker 1: 2:08 

We're talking about younger investors. 

Speaker 2: 2:09 

Exactly. Those under 35, historically, that's the most aggressive group. That demographic saw their willingness to take substantial risk plummet from 24% down to just 15% in that same period. 

Speaker 1: 2:21 

24 down to 15? That's a nearly 10-point drop. 

Speaker 2: 2:24 

Yeah. Among the very group who theoretically has the longest time horizon to recover from any losses, it suggests the last few years have been deeply formative, maybe even scarring. 

Speaker 1: 2:35 

So why this sudden contraction? What are the sources pointing to? 

Speaker 2: 2:39 

It's attributed directly to the economic uncertainty and uh the persistent volatility we felt all through 2025. This wasn't just a vague feeling of unease. 

Speaker 1: 2:49 

No, it was specific events. 

Speaker 2: 2:50 

Very specific. We saw high market volatility fueled by recurring tariff debates, geopolitical stuff, and then domestic political gridlock. 

Speaker 1: 2:58 

The government shutdown. 

Speaker 2: 2:59 

Yeah, and all the legislative uncertainty around that massive, contentious fiscal legislation. The sources called it the Big Beautiful Bill. 

Speaker 1: 3:07 

And all that uncertainty, it just created genuine investor anxiety. 

Speaker 2: 3:12 

It absolutely did. And we can prove that behavioral response with real-time data. 

Speaker 1: 3:16 

How so? 

Speaker 2: 3:17 

We looked at search analytics across compliant content platforms, you know, the vetted educational sites from financial institutions. Right. And the data showed that searches related to bear markets, volatility, and just general risk management more than doubled year over year. 

Speaker 1: 3:31 

Doubled. So investors weren't just waiting for a call from their advisor. 

Speaker 2: 3:35 

No, they were actively trying to understand and uh mitigate potential downside on their own. 

Speaker 1: 3:42 

And here's the data point that really surprised me. The one that tells you exactly where that anxiety was focused. 

Speaker 2: 3:48 

Let me guess. 

Speaker 1: 3:49 

The single most searched term on one of these platforms. It wasn't recession, it wasn't interest rates, it was tariffs. 

Speaker 2: 3:57 

Tariffs. That's highly specific anxiety, isn't it? 

Speaker 1: 4:00 

It is. It signals that investors were really concerned about the microeconomic implications of trade policy, a factor they just can't control. 

Speaker 2: 4:07 

And when investors are searching for something as specific as that, they aren't necessarily panic selling, but they are clearly deeply uneasy. They're looking for a rational explanation for what's happening. 

Speaker 1: 4:19 

So this whole recalibration, it really underscores a critical need for financial organizations, doesn't it? 

Speaker 2: 4:25 

It does. They have to acknowledge those very real concerns, the tariff anxiety, the political risk, and then translate that into timely, compliant educational materials. 

Speaker 1: 4:34 

The challenge is helping people distinguish between appropriate long-term risk and just letting market fear drive all their decisions. 

Speaker 2: 4:42 

Right. It's about meeting them where their anxiety is. When the environment feels unpredictable, the message has to pivot away from aggressive returns and toward resilience and stability. 

Speaker 1: 4:51 

Okay. So we had this general market mindset of increasing caution, but let's shift gears now to segment two. Because that caution doesn't seem to apply evenly everywhere. This is where that investor advisor dynamic starts to decouple, especially around crypto. 

Speaker 2: 5:06 

Yeah, the divergence is fascinating. It really points to the maturing of this asset class. Fine arrow's research shows a cooling trend among retail investors for these speculative assets. 

Speaker 1: 5:16 

Aaron Powell Okay, so what are the numbers? 

Speaker 2: 5:18 

The number of retail investors who said they were even considering crypto dropped from 33% in 2021. 

Speaker 1: 5:25 

Which is basically the peak. 

Speaker 2: 5:27 

Right, the peak. It dropped from 33% down to 26% in 2024. 

Speaker 1: 5:31 

And that reduction aligns perfectly with the broader risk aversion we were just talking about. It just makes sense that the average investor would step back and say, you know what? Maybe I'll wait this one out. 

Speaker 2: 5:41 

That's one side of the coin. But then you see the other side. Which is while that retail interest in buying crypto is cooling, advisor demand for compliant education about crypto is rising dramatically. 

Speaker 1: 5:52 

How dramatic are we talking about? 

Speaker 2: 5:54 

Advisor searches for crypto-related content increased more than 200% year over year. 200% on their internal industry platforms. That's triple the search rate from the previous period. 

Speaker 1: 6:04 

That is a huge disconnect. So if the retail investor is backing away, why are financial advisors suddenly searching for crypto knowledge at this accelerated pace? 

Speaker 2: 6:14 

Well, it's more strategic than just catching up. They need to understand the asset class for I think two main reasons. Okay. First, they're dealing with clients who might still hold significant dormant assets. Stuff they bought during the peak that's now just sitting in a wallet. 

Speaker 1: 6:29 

Ah, so they need to address tax questions, estate planning. 

Speaker 2: 6:33 

Exactly. All those implications. Yeah. They need to provide context without necessarily endorsing future investments. It's a fiduciary duty issue. 

Speaker 1: 6:42 

That makes perfect sense. And the second reason preparation. 

Speaker 2: 6:45 

Preparation for regulated products like ETFs and other instruments that allow for compliant, cautious exposure within a traditional portfolio. Right. The topic isn't going away. So the advisor's job is to be the rational filter for their client. They're getting ready to navigate a product that's shifting from this speculative internet thing into a regulated, though still volatile, part of the ecosystem. 

Speaker 1: 7:08 

So the implication for asset managers is clear. They need to pivot from marketing these aggressive growth stories to providing grounded risk-aware guidance that actually supports the advisor. 

Speaker 2: 7:20 

That's it. It's about arming advisors with facts and compliant talking points. The goal isn't necessarily to drive more crypto adoption, it's to ensure the client gets professional advice on a topic that's still a huge part of the conversation. 

Speaker 1: 7:32 

Let's pivot now to what might be the biggest behavioral shift we've seen in years. Farnera's research calls it its most consequential finding. 

Speaker 2: 7:41 

Yeah, the growing systemic reliance on social media and influencers. 

Speaker 1: 7:45 

As the core source for investment information. 

Speaker 2: 7:48 

This trend is fundamentally reshaping how market knowledge gets transmitted. And the numbers, they're truly eye-opening. We are not just talking about bored teens on TikTok. 

Speaker 1: 7:57 

Not at all. 

Speaker 2: 7:57 

29% of all investors now rely on social media for investment insights. 

Speaker 1: 8:01 

That's nearly one in three adults with money in the market. 

Speaker 2: 8:04 

It is. And when you look at the younger demographic, the habit is even more entrenched. 

Speaker 1: 8:09 

How much more? 

Speaker 2: 8:09 

The data shows that 61% of investors under 35, so the majority use YouTube as a primary channel for financial education. 

Speaker 1: 8:18 

YouTube is now the default financial literacy platform for the next generation. 

Speaker 2: 8:22 

It is. And that search for knowledge, it translates directly into action. Twenty-six percent of all investors use recommendations they get from influencers. 

Speaker 1: 8:31 

Among younger investors, that number, predictably, it just explodes. 

Speaker 2: 8:36 

Jumps right to 61%. So they're not just passively watching this content, they're acting on this personality-driven advice. 

Speaker 1: 8:42 

And this is where the content itself is shifted, right? The data points to a rise in what's being called personality-driven, trust-based investing content. 

Speaker 2: 8:51 

Yeah, creators are realizing that just churning out high-frequency, low-quality posts for visibility is less effective now. 

Speaker 1: 8:59 

Instead, they're investing heavily in narrative. 

Speaker 2: 9:01 

Exactly. They're producing more polished, cinematic, story-driven content. It's designed to communicate who they are, their struggles, their successes, their authenticity. 

Speaker 1: 9:09 

The idea being to build a personal connection, that relatability factor. 

Speaker 2: 9:13 

And that becomes the conduit for the financial advice. Which brings us to the core conflict the study highlights the relatability risk paradox. 

Speaker 1: 9:23 

Explain that. 

Speaker 2: 9:25 

Well, many finfluencers succeed because they feel so relatable. They speak the language of a younger, maybe less experienced investor. 

Speaker 1: 9:34 

But that relatability, it often drastically outpaces their actual expertise. 

Speaker 2: 9:39 

That's the paradox. Some of these creators, they're new to investing themselves. Their commentary might be delivered with great enthusiasm, but it's unvetted. It blurs critical lines for first-time investors who don't have a solid foundation to filter the advice. 

Speaker 1: 9:53 

And that's where the risk lies. The viewer sees this highly professional video. 

Speaker 2: 9:57 

But the underlying content might be encouraging them to chase a volatile meme stock or a highly leveraged trend just because everyone is talking about it. 

Speaker 1: 10:05 

The production quality is top tier, but the quality of the actual strategy often lags way behind traditional financial education. 

Speaker 2: 10:11 

Right. It's the difference between entertainment and durable knowledge. There is a notable exception the source has pointed to, though. 

Speaker 1: 10:17 

Sponsored creator. 

Speaker 2: 10:18 

Exactly. When influencers are sponsored and follow firm-provided scripts, their advice tends to stay safely within compliance guardrails. 

Speaker 1: 10:26 

Because the quality control is baked into the sponsorship. 

Speaker 2: 10:29 

Right. But that is the exception, not the rule, across the broader FinFluencer ecosystem. 

Speaker 1: 10:34 

And for the vast majority of that young audience, the motivator remains FOMO. The fear of missing out. 

Speaker 2: 10:42 

That pressure is still a powerful motivator, encouraging younger investors to act quickly, chase trends, often to their own detriment. 

Speaker 1: 10:50 

It creates unnecessary urgency. 

Speaker 2: 10:52 

Exactly. It's the direct counterpoint to the timeless advice that should guide every new investor. And the sources offer a necessary reality check to all this social media urgency. 

Speaker 1: 11:02 

And what's that reality check? 

Speaker 2: 11:04 

That in reality, the only message that deserves genuine urgency is the foundational principle that's guided generations. Start early, invest regularly, and let time in the market do the heavy lifting for you. 

Speaker 1: 11:15 

That remains the single most reliable path to long-term success. 

Speaker 2: 11:19 

Regardless of what rapid-fire scheme you see on your feed this afternoon. 

Speaker 1: 11:22 

That brings us back to the core challenge here. All these findings reinforce that investor behavior is changing and it's evolving faster than established financial firms can adapt. 

Speaker 2: 11:33 

The path forward, the study suggests, requires operational agility. It's not about producing more content to compete with influencers. 

Speaker 1: 11:41 

It's about producing the right content with speed and precision. 

Speaker 2: 11:44 

And that speed is critical. As the need for timely, compliant information for advisors grows, we saw that with the 200% surge in crypto searches, firms need intelligent systems that can accelerate the content review process. Because if the industry can't bridge that speed gap, the void will continue to be filled by personality-driven advice, which, you know, while it's highly relatable, may lack the vetting and expertise needed for sound long-term decisions. 

Speaker 1: 12:12 

This has been a deep dive into investor behavior and this massive generational shift. It's clear the financial landscape is being redefined not just by economics, but by relatability. 

Speaker 2: 12:22 

The data presents a fascinating paradox, doesn't it? Investors are becoming more cautious about risk while simultaneously relying on the riskiest, least vetted source of information for guidance, social media. 

Speaker 1: 12:34 

And that leads us to our final provocative thought for you to explore on your own. Considering the sheer scale of this shift, where 61% of young investors are relying on FinFluencers, how will the traditional financial industry successfully bridge the fundamental gap between offering vetted, compliant expertise and meeting the modern investors' powerful and deeply personal desire for trustworthy relatability? 

Speaker 2: 12:57 

A critical question for the future of finance, indeed. 

Speaker 1: 13:00 

Something to mull over until next time. That's all for this deep dive. We'll see you soon. 

Read the Blog Post

The FINRA Foundation’s newest National Financial Capability Study offers a snapshot of how U.S. investors are recalibrating their attitudes, information sources, and expectations. The findings confirm what many across the financial services ecosystem have sensed: the next chapter of investor engagement will look markedly different from the one that defined the post-pandemic surge. 

The pace of new investors entering the market has slowed significantly. Risk tolerance is contracting across age groups. Reliance on social media and finfluencers continues to rise, particularly among younger, newer market participants. And interest in complex or speculative assets, including cryptocurrency, is shifting in ways that reflect both caution and curiosity. 

Within Red Oak’s platform—spanning compliant content distribution, supervision, and communications surveillance—we’ve seen many of these dynamics unfold in real time. Below, we break down the major themes in FINRA’s research and share insights and observations from across the Red Oak ecosystem. 

1. A Meaningful Shift in Investor Risk Appetite 

FINRA’s study highlights a notable pullback in investor willingness to take substantial risks. In 2024, only 8% of investors said they were willing to take significant risks to achieve higher returns, down from 12% just three years earlier. The decline is even more pronounced among investors under 35, where willingness dropped from 24% to 15%. 

This recalibration is not surprising. The economic uncertainty of 2025—shaped by tariff debates, the Big Beautiful Bill, and the government shutdown—created unusually high market volatility that tested investor resilience.  

Across Red Oak’s compliant content distribution product, 4U, we saw a behavioral shift in investors that directly influenced advisor behavior. Searches related to market volatility, bear markets, and risk management more than doubled year-over-year, indicating that investors were not just feeling uneasy, but actively looking for guidance to navigate an unfamiliar environment. The most-searched term on the platform this year was “tariffs.” 

These shifts underscore a critical need: financial organizations need to provide timely, relevant and compliant educational materials to help advisors support investors—acknowledging their concerns while helping them distinguish between appropriate risk and unnecessary fear. 

2. Crypto Interest Is Diverging: Investors Pull Back While Advisors Lean In 

FINRA’s data shows a decline in investors considering cryptocurrency investments, from 33% in 2021 to 26% in 2024. This cooling aligns squarely with today’s broader risk aversion. 

Inside Red Oak’s compliant content distribution platform, 4U, the story is more nuanced: advisor searches related to cryptocurrency increased more than 200% year-over-year. 

Advisor demand for practical, compliant crypto education is rising, even if investor demand is not. While retail investors may be stepping back from crypto, advisors are actively seeking to understand the asset class and anticipate client questions. This gap between investor hesitation and advisor inquiry underscores the need for clear, practical, compliant resources for advisors as they navigate an ever-changing regulatory landscape. 

Asset managers who can provide grounded, risk-aware guidance will be well-positioned to support advisors navigating one of the most complex and rapidly evolving product categories.  

3. Social Media Generations Are Redefining How—and Where—Investors Learn 

One of FINRA’s most consequential findings is the growing reliance on social media and finfluencers as sources of investment information. 

  • 29% of investors now rely on social media for investment insights. 
  • 61% of investors under 35 use YouTube as a primary channel. 
  • 26% say they use recommendations from influencers when making investment decisions — a number that jumps to 61% among younger investors. 

What we are observing across content supervision aligns closely with FINRA’s findings: 

The rise of personality-driven, trust-based investing content 

Creators are shifting away from high-frequency posting for visibility and instead producing more polished, narrative-driven content that communicates who they are rather than simply what they think. This shift creates deeper engagement, but it can also move meaningful investor-creator interaction into private messages or non-public channels. 

The relatability–risk paradox 

Many finfluencers succeed because they feel relatable — but relatability often outpaces expertise. Some are new investors themselves. Their commentary may be earnest but unvetted, blurring lines for first-time market participants. 

High production value doesn’t equal high-quality advice 

The production value of influencer-produced content is incredibly high, but the quality of the underlying advice often lags behind. Sponsored creators who follow firm-provided scripts typically stay within compliance guardrails and thie advice is consistent with traditional financial education.  

FOMO continues to be a powerful investor motivator 

Younger and less experienced investors often feel pressure to act quickly or chase trending strategies because everyone around them seems to be doing the same. In reality, the only message that deserves urgency is the long-standing principle that has guided generations of investors: start early, invest regularly, and allow time in the market to do the heavy lifting. This remains the most reliable path to long term success, regardless of what is trending online. 

The Path Forward Requires Agility 

FINRA’s findings reinforce what the industry has felt building over the past two years: investor behavior is changing, often faster than firms can adapt. But the path forward is not about doing more; it’s about doing the right things with more agility and precision. 

As investor behaviors shift and the need for timely, yet compliant information for advisors grows, financial organizations need technology that helps them respond with speed, consistency, and confidence. 

At Red Oak, we are committed to helping organizations bridge these gaps — with a platform where content, review, distribution, and supervision work as one intelligent system. Built by compliance experts, Red Oak accelerates the review workflow, reduces friction, and drives compliant AUM growth, getting materials into the hands of advisors quickly in a rapidly shifting landscape. 

Contributors

Anita Heisl is the Chief Client Officer at Red Oak. Connect with Anita on LinkedIn.

James Cella serves as Principal Product Advisor at Red Oak. Connect with James on LinkedIn.

Related Content