- Despite 2025 market volatility and economic uncertainty, eight in 10 investors are satisfied with their portfolios
- Most investors feel they will be able to weather the continued market volatility, though results vary by generational group
- Most investors are satisfied with their financial advisors, but Gen X are more likely to feel their needs are not being met
- More than four in 10 Gen X (45%) and Millennials (41%) are now concerned about meeting their financial goals over five years
FTSE Russell, the global index provider, today released the findings of its 2025 Wealth Pulse Survey, a follow up to its 2024 report of U.S. retail investors.
While investors have endured a tumultuous first half of 2025, the vast majority remain bullish on their portfolios, satisfied with their performance, but in a seeming disconnect are less confident about the direction of the equity market and economy.
Financial advisors’ good communication during market volatility bolstered high satisfaction levels. Importantly for advisors, Gen X are more stressed than other generations and less likely to be satisfied while Millennials, though the most enthusiastic about index investing, are revealed to be least loyal to their advisors.
Ryan Sullivan, Head of Buy Side Americas at FTSE Russell, comments on the findings:
“After a rollercoaster first half of the year, it appears that financial advisors are earning their stripes. Most respondents clearly value their financial advisors’ advice, which has made them more confident about navigating further turmoil in the markets and staying on track for retirement. While this should help foster the advisor / client relationship and build trust with older generations, we do see some concerns with younger investors. Affluent Gen Xers and Millennials revealed very different views on investing from Boomers, potentially creating an opportunity for advisors to build stronger relationships with these investors by thoughtfully addressing their unique needs and concerns. What works for the grandparents doesn’t necessarily work for the grandkids, and advisors will need to continue to adopt new tactics to build trust with next-gen investors.”
Investors bullish on portfolios but less so the economy
In an apparent contradiction, investors remain optimistic about their portfolios after 2025’s volatility, but less so about the stock market and the economy. Three in four (75%) say they’re positive about the next six months, with almost the same proportion (73%) positive over 18 months. On the U.S. economy, only around half feel positive about what’s coming over six (46%) and 18 months (51%).
Despite the confidence expressed about their investment portfolios, investors are particularly nervous about four factors that could impact performance. These are:
- High inflation eroding real returns (53%)
- Major stock market correction / crash (51%)
- Geopolitical events (48%)
- Prolonged recession (42%)
Even so, investors do not plan to change much. Six in 10 (62%) investors plan to adjust their portfolios in the next 12 months, although most anticipate only minor changes. Most commonly, they intend to generally rebalance portfolios (17%).
Striking generation gap on financial futures
Gen X and Millennials are more anxious about their investments than Baby Boomers. Gen X (born 1965-1980) and Millennials (1981-1996) are openly concerned about whether future market volatility will put their financial goals out of reach. But the Baby Boomer generation (1946-64) is largely retired and less anxious.
Gen X are most concerned about their investment portfolios. Four in 10 (40%) of Gen X admit to feeling stressed when thinking of their portfolios. Only three in 10 Baby Boomers (31%) and Millennials (29%) say they feel stressed. When it comes to their financial futures, both Gen X and Millennials bear the scars of recent market volatility. More than four in 10 Gen X (45%) and Millennials (41%) are now concerned about meeting their financial goals over five years, compared to one in four (24%) Baby Boomers.
Advisors earned high satisfaction but Gen X feels underserved
Good communication through the first half of 2025 has helped to reinforce investor trust and satisfaction in financial advisors. But Gen X has reservations and Millennials feel little loyalty, creating an issue for advisors.
During 2025’s market volatility, advisors encouraged clients to stay the course – and most plan to do so, at least partially. Almost half (48%) of investors were advised not to change portfolios, while almost one in five (18%) were advised to exploit cheaper stock prices to buy more. A similar number (16%) were recommended to reallocate to more conservative investments. Almost all (97%) investors have followed, or plan to follow, this advice – either partially or fully.
Only a little more than half (57%) of Gen Xers say they’re very satisfied with their financial advisor, far less than Millennials (69%) and Baby Boomers (72%). When asked whether advisors equip them with custom solutions tailored to their needs, only half of Gen Xers (48%) strongly agree, against two thirds (65%) of Millennials and a similar number of Baby Boomers (61%).
Index fund usage holds steady but interest in active and down-side protection picks up
While index fund usage remains high, market uncertainty appears to be stimulating interest in active funds and buffer ETFs appeal to investors. Almost half (47%) of investors own index funds – the same percentage as in 2024 and significantly higher than in 2022 (33%). Almost one in three (30%) view themselves as knowledgeable about how index funds work, significantly higher than a quarter (24%) in 2022.
Investors have unexpected faith in actively managed funds – where portfolio managers can act to cushion the fund against stock price falls. Half (50%) of investors expect active funds to outperform passively managed index funds in 2025, while only one in five (20%) anticipate index funds outperforming.
In another sign of uncertain times, investors like the idea of buffer ETFs. These are ETFs that limit losses if markets fall, albeit at a cost in terms of also setting a cap on gains. Though just a third (33%) of investors either own or are familiar with buffer ETFs, they appeal to almost three quarters (72%) of affluent investors.
Methodology
FTSE Russell’s 2025 Wealth Pulse Survey was an online quantitative survey of 750 U.S. retail investors conducted by independent research firm 8 Acre Perspective. The respondents were aged 25+ with $250,000 or more of investable assets and 37% had $1 million+ in assets. They were either the main decisionmaker for household money decisions or shared the responsibility. All owned individual stocks, mutual funds and/or ETFs outside the workplace. The survey was conducted between June 2 and June 11, 2025.
