There likely aren’t many people who are totally satisfied with their investments. If you haven’t been able to buy as many shares/ETFs/crypto as your peers, you probably live in perpetual fear that one day your friends will ascend to that Wolf of Wall Street lifestyle while you’re still looking up ways to save on groceries.
Alternatively, you might have an uneasy feeling about a forthcoming worldwide catastrophe and be concerned you are overexposed to global markets.
Whichever group you fall into, you might be surprised (or alarmed) by the latest estimates on the size of the average Aussie’s investment portfolio.
Read more: How much does the average Aussie save?
How much does the average Aussie have in growth assets? (e.g. shares)
The InfoChoice State of Aussies' Savings Survey, conducted in June 2024 and based on a sample of just over 1,000 people, asked respondents about the value of their investments in growth assets outside of property and superannuation. This excludes savings accounts and term deposits.
These were the results by age:
| Investment balance | Total | Baby boomers (1946 - 1964) | Gen X (1965 - 1980) | Millennials (1981 - 1996) | Gen Z (1997 - 2012) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | 43.3% | 45.4% | 46.7% | 37.4% | 48.9% |
| $1 - $999 | 10.2% | 7.6% | 7.7% | 12.4% | 11.7% |
| $1,000 - $4,999 | 10.6% | 5.4% | 9.3% | 11.1% | 16.5% |
| $5,000 - $19,999 | 11.1% | 5.9% | 8.9% | 15.7% | 9.6% |
| $20,000 - $49,999 | 8.2% | 7.6% | 7.3% | 10.8% | 4.8% |
| $50,000 - $99,999 | 6.0% | 9.2% | 6.9% | 3.9% | 5.9% |
| $100,000 and over | 10.6% | 18.9% | 13.1% | 8.8% | 2.7% |
Source: InfoChoice State of Aussies' Savings Survey, July 2024
So more than 40% of Aussies have absolutely nothing invested outside of super or property. For those in Gen Z, that goes up to 48.9%. Millennials are seemingly the most active investors, with close to two thirds (62.6%) having at least $1 in a growth asset.
While many Boomers and Gen Xers don’t invest beyond super and property, those that do unsurprisingly tend to build up impressive portfolios. Of Gen Xers with at least $1 invested, 37.6% had a portfolio of at least $50,000, rising to 51.5% for Boomers.
It’s difficult to know from the results how much people are investing relative to their income - a 16-year-old might have $500 invested but it’s basically everything they have, while $100,000 in equity might be chump change to a fully-fledged Boomer with a multi-million dollar net worth.
Gender gap
The InfoChoice survey also found a significant gender disparity. More than half (56%) of women have nothing invested outside of property and super, compared to less than a third of male respondents.
| Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | 43.6% | 32.3% | 56.0% |
| $1 - $999 | 10.1% | 10.4% | 9.9% |
| $1,000 - $4,999 | 10.5% | 11.1% | 9.9% |
| $5,000 - $19,999 | 11.2% | 13.5% | 8.6% |
| $20,000 - $49,999 | 8.1% | 9.5% | 6.6% |
| $50,000 - $99,999 | 5.9% | 8.0% | 3.7% |
| $100,000 and over | 10.5% | 15.2% | 5.3% |
Source: InfoChoice State of Aussies' Savings Survey, July 2024
This is despite fairly comprehensive research that suggests women are better than men at investing. Fidelity Investments did some analysis in 2021 of more than five million customers over 10 years which found that female speculators outperform men by 0.4% each year.
Read more: Are men really better than women at investing?
The most popular investments
Investments outside of property and super can include anything from rare tropical fish to financial derivatives such as Nvidia options. According to the InfoChoice survey, the three most popular investments are shares (at 73.6% of those with investments beyond property and super), ETFs (41.8%) and cryptocurrency (27.9%).
Here was the full breakdown:
| Are you invested in… | Total | Baby boomers (1946 - 1964) | Gen X (1965 - 1980) | Millennials (1981 - 1996) | Gen Z (1997 - 2012) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shares | 73.6% | 90.3% | 72.6% | 72.5% | 61.9% |
| ETFs | 41.8% | 16.1% | 37.9% | 51.3% | 44.4% |
| Managed Funds | 19.6% | 19.4% | 24.2% | 21.2% | 7.9% |
| Derivatives (e.g. Options, Futures, Swaps, CFDs) | 4.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 6.9% | 9.5% |
| Bonds | 8.3% | 1.6% | 6.3% | 10.6% | 11.1% |
| Cryptocurrency | 27.9% | 9.7% | 27.4% | 35.4% | 23.8% |
| Precious Metals (e.g. Gold, Silver) | 11.0% | 4.8% | 15.8% | 9.5% | 14.3% |
| Other | 1.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.6% | 3.2% |
Source: InfoChoice State of Aussies' Savings Survey, July 2024
Interestingly, shares (as in, individual companies' stock) dwarfed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), as well as managed funds (19.6%). This is despite ETFs and managed funds generally being considered safer options, since they cover a range of different companies, reducing exposure to any single firm.
This might be a generational thing - ETFs have recently become very accessible to everyday investors thanks to the various microinvesting apps now available. Millennials and Gen Zers have a much stronger preference for ETFs than Boomers or Gen X, so maybe older Aussies just aren’t aware of the low barriers to investing in an ETF. Managed funds, which were more popular among the older demographics, tend to have much higher minimum investments than ETFs.
Alternatively, it might be something to do with the growth potential. Given ETFs and managed funds provide diversified exposure to many different companies, you are less likely to experience the monstrous returns (or losses) one may attain through a high-risk strategy heavily investing in a single company. Find someone who chose to invest in a tech-themed ETF over buying Nvidia stock in 2022, and they can explain this to you.
Moving down the asset classes, there were a few other surprising results. Bonds are seemingly now the reserve of younger Aussies - 11.1% of those born after 1997 own bonds compared to 1.6% of baby boomers. It’s probably a bit beyond my pay grade to speculate about why this might be, but apps like Blossom which allow micro investing in bonds might be something to do with the uptake among Gen Z.
In general, Gen Z were the most diverse in their investments. Nearly 10% are invested in derivatives and 14.3% in precious metals, both of which were higher than any other demographic. Gen Z also topped the ‘other’ investment category, which might include signed memorabilia or art.
Read more: Property or shares?
Investing in 2024
Investing is one of those things where it’s super easy to feel like you’re doing it wrong. You’ll hear some people say things like ‘it’s time in the market, not timing the market,’ while others will tell you it’s blindingly obvious a global recession is coming and buying now is crazy. Either of those people might be right - if I had the answers I wouldn’t be writing this article.
However, one piece of advice that won’t go out of date is to understand all the options available to you. If you’ve never heard of an ETF or managed fund, for example, it’s worth exploring to see if it’s something that works for you. If you find the share market too intimidating, check out our simple beginner guide to the share market. And if you’re taking investment advice from a stranger on the internet, at least give the asset they’re recommending a bit of a Google before sending through all your money.
Picture by Joshua Mayo on Unsplash
Picture by Maria Lin Kim on Unsplash
Harrison Astbury
Harry O'Sullivan
