Younger, Do-it-Yourself Investors Seek Human Financial Advice in Uncertain Economy, J.D. Power Finds

March 20, 2025 at 07:00 AM EDT

Raymond James Ranks Highest Among Advised Investors, Vanguard Ranks Highest Among Do-it-Yourself Investors

From robo advice and gamified investing apps to artificial intelligence (AI), each new fintech innovation has ushered in a frenzy of predictions about the declining relevance of human financial advisors. However, according to the redesigned J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Investor Satisfaction Study,^SM younger, value-conscious do-it-yourself (DIY) investors who were supposed to drive the transformation of the industry are actively seeking the guidance of live professional advisors in an increasingly uncertain economy.

“For younger generations of investors who’ve been exposed to digital, human and hybrid forms of investment advice during the past several years, the decision to lean into DIY or advised channels is rarely ever an either/or scenario,” said Kapil Vora, senior director of wealth intelligence at J.D. Power. “Increasingly, investors are using several approaches, and many younger investors who would traditionally have fallen into the DIY category are actively looking to work with human advisors. However, it is no longer enough to have a brand legacy or an array of products and services; a company must deliver value and make the experience easy for investors.”

Following are some key findings of the redesigned 2025 study:

Younger DIY investors seek advisors: More than one-fourth (27%) of current DIY investors say they are likely to use a financial advisor in the next 12 months. The percentage of DIY investors seeking advisory relationships is highest among members of Gen Y¹ and Gen Z (37%), and lowest among those in the Gen X, Boomer and Pre-Boomer generations (21%). “We anticipate these percentages would be even higher across all generations since the close of fielding for this study, given the economic shifts of the past several weeks,” Vora said.
Simplicity and enjoyment are top reasons for keeping DIY accounts: Among investors with DIY investment accounts, the primary reasons for maintaining those accounts are that their finances and investments are simple enough to manage on their own (41%) and that they enjoy managing their own investments/finances (41%).
Traditional wealth management firms missing out on attracting younger investors: While interest in advisory services is high among younger investors, traditional wealth management firms are disproportionately skewed toward older investors. The percentage of investors younger than age 40 is just 11% at traditional wealth management firms vs. 20% at retirement/discount brokerage firms; 26% at banks; and 42% at fintech firms.
Ease of doing business is critical: When it comes to the individual dimensions that drive investor satisfaction with wealth management firms, ease of doing business is one of the most critical criteria and ranks just below trust; products and services; and people as the foundation for a positive investor experience.

Study Ranking

Raymond James ranks highest in overall satisfaction among advised investors, with a score of 748 (on a 1,000-point scale). U.S. Bank (738) ranks second and Edward Jones (734) ranks third.

Vanguard ranks highest in overall satisfaction among DIY investors, with a score of 704. Fidelity (703) ranks second and T. Rowe Price (691) ranks third.

See the rank chart for each segment at http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2025024.

The U.S. Investor Satisfaction Study is a combination of the former J.D. Power U.S. Full-Service Investor Satisfaction Study^SM and J.D. Power U.S. Self-Directed Investor Satisfaction Study.^SMThe redesigned study evaluates the experiences of investors working with a wealth management firm, in either an advised or DIY capacity in seven dimensions (in alphabetical order): digital channels; ease of doing business; people; product and service offerings; resolving problems or complaints; trust; and value for fees paid. The 2025 study is based on responses from 7,876 advised and 3,723 DIY investors and was fielded from January through December 2024.

For more information about the U.S. Investor Satisfaction Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/wealth-management-platform.

About J.D. Power

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, J.D. Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 55 years. The world's leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

J.D. Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company's business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The J.D. Power auto-shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

About J.D. Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules: www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info

¹ J.D. Power defines generational groups as Pre-Boomers (born before 1946); Boomers (1946-1964); Gen X (1965-1976); Gen Y (1977-1994); and Gen Z (1995-2006). Millennials (1982-1994) are a subset of Gen Y.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250320745594/en/

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Geno Effler, J.D. Power; West Coast; 714-621-6224; media.relations@jdpa.com

John Roderick; East Coast; 631-584-2200; john@jroderick.com

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Younger, Do-it-Yourself Investors Seek Human Financial Advice in Uncertain Economy, J.D. Power Finds

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