Jack Sharry: Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's edition of WealthTech on Deck.
On this podcast, we spend time talking about where the wealth management industry is headed, how firms can better understand investors and financial advisors, build smarter experiences, and create better outcomes for clients, advisors, and enterprises.
Today's conversation is focused on what investors want from their advice experience.
If I were to critique our industry, I'd say we don't spend nearly enough time understanding the investor. We spend considerable time talking about advisors, firms, products, and technology. But understanding what investors actually want, what they need, and what they expect from the advice experience remains one of the biggest opportunities in wealth management.
My guest today is Andrew Guillette. Andrew is a longtime veteran of our industry whose career has focused on research, analytics, market intelligence, and understanding where wealth and asset management are headed. Andrew currently serves as Vice President at Broadridge, where he works across a variety of research initiatives, including Broadridge's Investor Pulse, a data-driven resource built on actual investor holdings and activity rather than surveys or sentiment.
Andrew has identified five themes for our discussion today: the myth of the average investor, democratization and concentration of wealth, structural product shifts beyond active versus passive, the blending of self-directed and advised relationships, and investor intelligence as a competitive advantage.
Today we'll use those themes to explore what the data is really saying and, more importantly, what wealth and asset management leaders should do about it.
Andrew, welcome to WealthTech on Deck.
Andrew Guillette: Thanks, Jack. Great to be with you.
Jack Sharry: Before we get into the data, let's start with you. You and I have known each other for decades. Throughout your career, you've researched and analyzed trends across wealth and asset management. Give our audience some context on that journey, what Broadridge does, where you fit within the organization, and how you came to focus on investor behavior and market intelligence.
Andrew Guillette: My entire career has been centered around insights, analytics, and data for asset managers and the firms that serve them. I've spent much of my professional life at the intersection of asset management, wealth management, and investor intelligence.
The work has always focused on helping firms make better decisions through research, analytics, market intelligence, product development, and strategic insight.
I've been with Broadridge for more than eight years. For those who may not be familiar with the company, Broadridge is a global fintech leader and a member of the S&P 500. We sit at the center of the financial services ecosystem, helping power investor communications, governance, connectivity, and much of the infrastructure that supports the industry.
Within Broadridge, I'm part of the Data Center of Excellence. Our role is to translate large and often complex datasets into actionable insights. My specific responsibility is helping bring storytelling to those datasets—making them understandable and useful for clients, stakeholders, industry leaders, and the broader marketplace.
Jack Sharry: Let's talk about the data because it forms the foundation of today's discussion. Investor Pulse has become a highly regarded resource. What exactly is Investor Pulse, and why is it such a valuable lens into today's retail investor landscape?
Andrew Guillette: Investor Pulse is our window into U.S. retail investor behavior.
Importantly, it tracks what investors actually do rather than what they say they might do. This is not a survey. It is built from aggregated and anonymized investor holdings data.
As of April, the dataset includes approximately 55 million retail investors and spans taxable accounts and IRAs. We now have eight years of history, and the data is refreshed monthly.
The dataset provides visibility into investor demographics, wealth levels, geography, product utilization, and distribution channel preferences. It allows us to study real investor behavior at scale rather than relying on opinions or sentiment.
The result is a unique and powerful view into how investors are actually allocating assets, adopting products, and interacting with financial markets.
Jack Sharry: What's striking is the scale of the dataset. Historically, Broadridge's investor communications business has given you visibility into enormous segments of the marketplace. Fifty-five million investors is a remarkable sample size.
Andrew Guillette: It really is.
The first time we built Investor Pulse, it took approximately nine months to process the data. Today, we can do it in a matter of weeks.
Because of the position Broadridge occupies between financial intermediaries and investors, we can see holdings information and ownership data in an aggregated and anonymized format. That enables us to understand investor behavior in a way that's very difficult to replicate through surveys alone.
That's what makes Investor Pulse so unique.
Jack Sharry: One of the themes you highlight is the idea that the average investor doesn't really exist anymore. What is the data telling you?
Andrew Guillette: The average investor absolutely doesn't hold up as a meaningful concept anymore.
Today's investors are far more diverse than many industry assumptions would suggest, and that's where a lot of conventional wisdom starts to break down.
One common assumption is that self-directed investors are overwhelmingly young investors. In reality, the average age difference between advised investors and self-directed investors is only about five years.
Another common belief is that investors with higher levels of education achieve meaningfully better investment outcomes. The data suggests returns are actually fairly similar across education segments.
One of the more surprising findings is that more than half of investors in our dataset identify high school as their highest completed level of education.
That has significant implications for how firms educate, communicate with, and market to investors.
The broader lesson is that firms need to segment investors based on actual behavior rather than assumptions.
Jack Sharry: Another theme is democratization. Investing has become more accessible than ever before, but greater access doesn't necessarily mean more equal outcomes. What are you seeing?
Andrew Guillette: Access has absolutely expanded.
Technology, digital platforms, zero-cost trading, fractional shares, and mobile investing have lowered barriers and brought more people into the market.
Following the pandemic, we saw a meaningful influx of younger investors entering the marketplace.
But while participation has broadened, wealth remains highly concentrated.
Roughly two-thirds of investors fall into the mass-market category. Yet investors with more than $1 million in investable assets still account for approximately 70% of total assets.
Younger investors are reshaping the marketplace, but they still control a relatively small share of overall wealth.
That means firms need to balance two realities simultaneously: serving the investors who create value today while cultivating relationships with the investors who will drive growth tomorrow.
Jack Sharry: Let's talk about product usage. One of your themes is that the discussion today is much bigger than active versus passive. What is changing?
Andrew Guillette: One of the biggest surprises is that the largest holding category among investors is not mutual funds.
It's individual stocks.
Approximately 39% of investor assets are held in individual securities. That includes direct stock ownership, equity compensation, separately managed accounts, and direct indexing solutions.
That often surprises people because our industry spends so much time focusing on packaged investment products.
That said, ETFs are unquestionably the growth story.
ETFs now represent a significant share of investor assets, and more than half of investors own at least one ETF.
What makes ETFs so attractive is that they have become modular building blocks for portfolio construction. They are low-cost, tax-efficient, flexible vehicles that can be used in both active and passive strategies.
The conversation has evolved beyond active versus passive. Increasingly, it's about how investment solutions are delivered, assembled, and consumed.
Jack Sharry: One thing that's impossible to ignore is the growth of model portfolios. The world seems to be moving toward models. What's your perspective on that trend?
Andrew Guillette: Model portfolios have become one of the clearest indicators of where portfolio construction is heading.
We estimate the model portfolio market at more than $9 trillion. Within the portion of the market we track directly, ETFs now represent the majority of assets.
Model portfolios benefit everyone involved—the manufacturer, the distributor, the advisor, and ultimately the investor.
One particularly interesting finding is that the mass-affluent investor segment appears to benefit most from model adoption. Advisors can leverage models to improve consistency, gain operational efficiency, and spend more time with clients.
The continued adoption of models signals a broader shift in how advice is being delivered and how portfolios are being managed.
Jack Sharry: Another finding that stood out is that self-directed investing is growing, but not necessarily at the expense of advice. Tell us more.
Andrew Guillette: Advice still reigns.
While roughly one-third of investors now have some form of self-directed relationship, advisory firms still account for the overwhelming majority of investor assets.
This is not a displacement story. It's an evolution story.
Increasingly, investors are blending professional advice with self-directed activity. They want the flexibility to manage some decisions on their own while still benefiting from professional guidance.
We found many investors maintain both an advisor relationship and a self-directed account.
The reasons vary. Diversification is one driver. Enjoyment is another.
Increasingly, investors want both flexibility and guidance, and firms need to recognize that reality.
Jack Sharry: What I found particularly interesting is that when investors are forced to choose one or the other, they still choose the advisor.
Andrew Guillette: That's exactly right.
Even among investors who use both channels, trust continues to reside with the advisor.
Self-directed investing may be engaging, educational, and enjoyable, but when it comes to long-term financial decisions, investors continue to place tremendous value on professional advice.
Jack Sharry: You also uncovered some interesting findings around investor behavior and online gambling. What did you learn?
Andrew Guillette: One surprising result from our investor survey is that 23% of respondents reported participating in online gambling or betting activities.
Of those investors, roughly two in ten said they view online gambling as a viable way to build wealth.
That creates an important challenge for our industry and highlights the need for continued investor education and financial literacy efforts.
Jack Sharry: The final theme is investor intelligence. Why is understanding investors becoming such an important strategic capability?
Andrew Guillette: Historically, our industry has understood advisors much better than it has understood end investors.
That needs to change.
Investor intelligence helps firms improve segmentation, product development, communications, targeting, and strategic planning.
Understanding who your investors actually are—not who you assume they are—is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage.
The firms that do this best will be better positioned to build stronger relationships and create more relevant solutions.
Jack Sharry: If you were speaking directly to wealth management leaders, asset managers, and platform executives, what actions would you encourage them to take?
Andrew Guillette: Don't rely on legacy assumptions.
Use data to gain a more precise understanding of investor behavior.
Build relationships earlier. Investors are entering the market younger than ever before, but many don't seek professional advice until around age forty.
That creates a significant opportunity to engage them long before they become advisory clients.
Ultimately, the firms best positioned to win will be the ones that truly understand their investors.
Jack Sharry: We always like to end on a personal note. What do you do outside of work when you're not studying investor behavior and wealth management trends?
Andrew Guillette: Outside of work, I spend as much time as possible on Block Island with my family.
Whether it's biking, paddleboarding, clamming, or simply enjoying the outdoors, that's my happy place.
I'm also a lifelong tennis player. I played through college and still play regularly today.
I have a collection of about fifty racquets dating back to when I first started playing, which has become a bit of a tennis museum in my garage.
And yes, like many tennis players these days, I've also picked up pickleball.
Jack Sharry: Like everyone else these days.
Andrew, this has been a terrific conversation. You've provided a much clearer picture of what investors are actually doing rather than what we might assume they're doing.
For our audience, thank you for tuning in. If you've enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, subscribe, and share WealthTech on Deck.
We're available wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find all of our episodes at wealthtechondeck.com.
Andrew, thank you again. I really enjoyed our conversation.
Andrew Guillette: Thank you, Jack.
