Millennials Favor Crypto ETFs As Top Investment Asset, Schwab Reports Growing Bullish Sentiment Among ETF Investors

A recent Schwab Asset Management study indicates ETF investors' sentiment remains upbeat despite market and political uncertainty.

What Happened: The 2024 edition of "ETFs and Beyond," an annual study by Schwab Asset Management, stated that 75% of survey respondents feel confident their portfolios would recover from a deep recession or black swan event.

It added that ETFs constitute 27% of ETF investor portfolios at present, with a significant 65% of investors intending to augment their ETF investments in the forthcoming year.

Despite market volatility, fears of recession, and political uncertainties, 91% of ETF investors state that ETFs are a necessary part of their portfolios and 65% plan to increase investments in ETFs in the next year.

Cryptocurrencies have seen a significant jump to 45% in 2024 from 38% in 2023 among ETF investors. U.S. Equities and alternatives remain stagnant while bonds/fixed income dropped from 47% to 44%.

Also Read: Chinese ETFs Fizzle During Pre-Market Despite US Investors Pouring $5.2B Last Week: Here’s What Happened

Why It Matters: Notably, millennials reported the highest levels of interest in several ETF types and asset classes, including fixed income, alternatives, cryptocurrency and smart beta.

Around 62% of millennials plan to invest in crypto ETFs over the next year. This stands higher when compared to alternative ETFs (25%), fixed income ETFs (47%) and smart beta ETFs (29%).

The Schwab survey underscored that ETF investors adhere to the traditional 60/40 portfolio, with an average of 60% of their portfolios in equities and 40% in fixed income. However, generational variations exist, with millennials allocating 54% of their portfolios to equities and 46% to fixed income.

David Botset, managing director, head of Innovation and Stewardship at Schwab Asset Management commented, "ETF investors may be characterized as even-keeled, tempered and fearless."

Crypto trader TylerD reacted on the Schwab survey, "Mainstream is more bullish on crypto than we realized."

What’s Next: The influence of Bitcoin as an institutional asset class is expected to be thoroughly explored at Benzinga’s upcoming Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19.

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