A recent survey conducted by YouGov and Mint found that 48% of older millennials (age 29-37) invested in equities compared to 4% of younger millennials (aged 22-28). The influence of age on investment decision is also visible in investments made by Gen X (aged 38-53). The survey found that 54% of the older generation invested in equity investments of some kind.
Overall, one-third of working millennials put their money only in risk-free instruments such as fixed and recurring deposits, without investing anything in equities. Millennials refer to those who attained adulthood in the early 21st century.
The study observed that older people have more accumulated savings and higher incomes than the young do. This allows them greater flexibility to invest in different products. This is particularly true in case of younger millennials who have lower earnings, compared with the other two demographics.
Moreover, the tendency of millennials to spend more compared to their older counterparts may also be responsible for the lower investments. However, the survey reckons that income plays a greater role in shaping investment decisions.
Analysis of millennial data by income group further reiterates this point. The survey noted that the richest millennials invested twice as much in equities compared to the millennials earning lower income. Similarly, higher number of these individuals diversify their investments compared to their poorest counterparts. This indicates that the cushion of high earnings boosts the risk appetite of these individuals.
Overall, the survey notes that it is class, more than age, which influences the investment products chosen and the investment amount.
A city-wise analysis of the data revealed that working adults (age 22-53 years) from Hyderabad were least likely to invest in stock markets, while those residing in Kolkata are most likely to do so. The pollsters noted that only 35% of the respondents from Hyderabad invested in equities compared to 61% of the participants from Kolkata. Majority of the respondents from Delhi-NCR and Mumbai invested in equities. On the other hand, amongst the Bengaluru respondents the percentage of equity investors was slightly lower than 50%.
The survey also mentioned that there is no major gender-specific difference in investment preferences of working millennials. However, millennial men have a slightly higher allocation to equities compared to millennial women.
The YouGov-Mint Millennial Survey was conducted online in July. The survey collated answers of 5,000 respondents from YouGov India’s panel of internet-users. The respondents were spread across 180+ cities. Amongst the sample, a little less than a thousand belong to Gen X while older millennials, younger millennials and post-millennials all had more than a thousand representatives.
