- 41% of retail investors are open to using or are already using AI to pick or alter investments in their portfolios; 71% of 18-44-year olds say the same
- 11% of U.S. retail investors plan on increasing their investments in AI stocks, 23% look to increase investments in technology
- Top reasons for using AI to pick investments are to save time on research and because they believe it’s the future of investing
Tuesday, July 11, 2023 – Four in ten U.S. investors (41%) are open to, or are already using, AI tools such as ChatGPT to pick or alter their investment portfolios. This, according to data from the latest Retail Investor Beat from trading and investment platform eToro. The study of 1,000 U.S. retail investors found that a third of respondents (34%) believe that AI technology will pick better investments than a fund manager.
The findings follow an explosive eight months for AI, with the launch of ChatGPT last November heralding mass interest and investment. While the latest Retail Investor Beat highlighted that many U.S. retail investors are ready to embrace the technology, it also shows that they are bullish about the technology sector in general. One in 10 U.S. investors (11%) say they plan on increasing their investments in AI stocks during the remainder of the year, another 23% say they plan to increase their investments in technology in the same time frame.
Of the U.S. retail investors who are either already using ChatGPT-style tools, or who are open to the idea of using them, the majority (59%) would go as far as to let AI alter and execute trades for them. The data found that more mature investors are also embracing AI trends! 69% of investors between the ages of 35 and 44 say they would trust AI technology to alter investments and execute trades. That’s compared to 35% of investors over the age of 55 indicating that Gen X and Baby Boomers are a little slower to jump on the AI technology bandwagon, but they’re not opposed to it!
There is, however, a notable gender gap when it comes to implementing and utilizing AI technology. Only 31% of female investors said they’re currently using or open to trying AI as a tool to pick or alter investments in their portfolios; more than half (52%) of men said the same.
Commenting on the data, eToro US Investment Analyst, Callie Cox, said: “AI is a revolutionary technology, and it could help individual investors better tailor their money for their goals. AI has a promising future if it can improve our daily lives. For now, it seems like there are some real use cases when it comes to investing.”
Table 1: How retail investors across different age groups are adopting ChatGPT-style tools to help manage investments
| 18-34-year-olds | 35-44-year-olds | 45-54-year-olds | 55+ years old | |
| Already using AI tools like Chat GPT | 31% | 38% | 12% | 1% |
| Open to using AI tools like Chat GPT | 41% | 33% | 40% | 15% |
| Against using AI tools like Chat GPT | 16% | 19% | 29% | 65% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 9% | 19% | 19% |
When U.S. investors were asked why they want to use AI technology, such as ChatGPT to pick investments, 46% said it will save them time on research. Additionally, 43% of American investors believe that AI is the future of investing and 40% say it’s because it will ‘make better decisions than me.’
Cox adds: “Investors see AI as a resource for their own strategies, as well as a potential replacement for portfolio managers and financial advisors. The latter scenario may not be too far off, either. We already have robo-portfolios, and AI may reach a point where it can be a decent guide for the average American’s financial situation.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
About this report
The latest Retail Investor Beat was based on a survey of 10,000 retail investors across 13 countries and 3 continents. The following countries had 1,000 respondents: UK, US, Germany, France, Australia, Italy and Spain. The following countries had 500 respondents: Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic.
The survey was conducted from 2nd June – 14th June 2023 and carried out by research company Opinium. Retail investors were defined as self-directed or advised and had to hold at least one investment product including shares, bonds, funds, investment ISAs or equivalent. They did not need to be eToro users.
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