With globalisation and the startup boom, millennials are investing their money in a way that's never been seen before
Most millennials, you might think, don’t have enough money to even be thinking about investing any of it—stiffed by stagnant wages, rising living costs and, in many cases, crippling student debt, long-term financial planning is the last thing on their minds.
But this is less true in the relatively buoyant economies of Asia; plus the oldest of the millennial cohort, usually defined as people born between 1980 and 2000, are approaching 40, and likely to have families. The way they choose to invest, though, is changing. Here are five key ways in which millennials invest their money differently from the generation before them.
They consume financial information differently
Younger people are bombarded with information these days, comfortable with seeking out there own sources of information, and want information through different channels. “Millennials want to consume information electronically, and especially through mobile,” says Christopher Blum, head of investments, Asia for JP Morgan.
“Because information is pushed to you so often, it creates impatience—it’s hard to hold people’s attention. A 40-page white paper isn’t going to cut it. Maybe a 100-word email at the start of the day with a few links might be better. Financial services companies need to be very careful about how they put information out. This is a hugely complex thing, and we can’t oversimplify.”
