CONSOB Report on financial investments of Italian households analyses the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of Italian retail investors. The 2024 edition is based on the Survey ‘The approach to finance and investment of Italian households' which Dogma Research carried out to a representative sample of Italian investors from January to March 2024. ... more
The 2024 Survey makes it possible to trace the dynamics of investors' portfolio choices compared to the previous surveys and focuses on sustainable finance and digital finance. The Survey collects data from a sample of 2,011 individuals, representative of the population of Italian financial decision-makers, who declare owning one or more financial assets, defined as 'investors'. In detail, the selection criterion provides for the exclusion from the sample of individuals who hold only basic asset management instruments (bank and postal accounts, unrestricted bank and postal savings, remunerated but unrestricted deposit accounts, or pension accumulation plans). Moreover, compared to previous editions of the Survey, in 2024 the sampling procedure was further strengthened by two filter questions. As usual, the respondent should be the person with the highest income in their household (the standard criterion adopted for the definition of the financial decision-maker); two additional requirements for inclusion in the sample were then added: the person answering the Survey declares that he or she is the main and predominant decision-maker and that he or she is familiar with at least one financial instrument. The combination of these two additional criteria, not used in previous editions, is aimed at ensuring a sufficiently high level of awareness among respondents (so-called 'aware investors').
The 2024 Report is divided into an Introduction and seven analytical Sections. The Introduction outlines the main developments in the regulatory framework. The first Section provides a detailed description of the sample by specifying their socio-demographic characteristics and personality traits. The second Section analyses the financial culture of financial decision-makers, comparing the respondents' knowledge in various areas. The third Section examines the information sources mainly used. After analysing portfolio choices, in the fourth Section, and the decision-making process, in the fifth, the Report offers a first focus on digital financial innovation and a second on sustainable finance (sixth and seventh Sections respectively).
The introductory Section pieces together, in general terms, of the main rules that constitute the reference framework for investors to make informed investment choices. The framework review has no claim to being exhaustive but rather a mere reminder of the main stages of legislative and regulatory evolution at the national and international level, without neglecting - as far as possible given the nature of the present publication - a summary of the rules of principle on sustainable finance and digital finance. ... more
The Introduction is also enclosed with a brief overview of the activities carried out by several national and international authorities aimed at protecting savers and ensuring the stability and integrity of financial markets. In this regard, the European Commission, the OECD, IOSCO, the three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) in France, among others, are taking measures aimed at promoting innovation and protecting savers from the growing risks of misleading practices. In this perspective, the need for enhanced international cooperation clearly emerges, as does the need to further strengthen financial education activities aimed at better addressing the emerging challenges of sustainability and digital finance.
Concerning the socio-demographic characteristics of the sample, described in the first Section, the respondents had an average age of 51 years and 78% were male. In the sampling phase, the final share of women was rebalanced ex post and stabilised at 22% to take into account certain trends in the population: the growth in the number of single-member households – and among these cases, those of the female gender – and the greater presence of family situations less characterised by a precise division of tasks (in terms of a male preponderance over those of financial management of family resources). ... more
In any case, the sample remains predominantly composed of men, reflecting the well-established gap not only in wages between women and men that characterizes our country: according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2024, Italy is in 87th place out of 146 countries in a ranking of the most virtuous countries in terms of gender equality in four different dimensions: economic opportunities, education, health and political leadership, and in 95th place with specific reference to the assessment of wage equality for similar work (World Economic Forum, 2024).
Respondents with a university degree or a post-graduate education are 32% of the sample, while 68% hold a lower qualification. About 50% are resident in the North, 17% in central regions, 33% in the South or on the main Islands. In terms of employment status, most respondents are employed (62%), while 17% are self-employed and 15% are retired (a further 4% include housewives, students and non-employed persons). As usual, the Survey explores individual traits that may influence the financial behaviour of respondents, including the propensity to trust others (high for 18% of respondents), risk propensity (which occurs in 15% of cases) and inter-temporal consumption preferences (which bias 20% of investors towards the long term). Attitudes that may play a role in the propensity towards sustainable investments are also explored, such as the willingness to share (so-called 'altruism'; prominent in 13% of respondents), the concern aroused by climate change (widespread and high for 43% of subjects) and the propensity towards liberal donations (reported by 50% of the sample).
Due to the selection criteria of the sample, consisting of – as mentioned – 'aware investors', the Report refers to respondents with a relatively high level of basic financial knowledge, illustrated in the second Section. Compared to the previous edition, the 2024 Survey aims to provide, through the development of an ad hoc questionnaire, a tool for measuring the sustainable finance literacy of retail investors, expanding the number and variety of concepts investigated. ... more
Extending the approach adopted in previous Surveys about basic financial knowledge, a measurement of investors' tendency to over (under) estimate their own knowledge is also introduced (overconfidence/underconfidence indicators). Finally, inspired by the OECD's experience, the survey related to digital knowledge and skills is also innovated, deepening, compared to the 2022 Survey, topics linked to the use of digital financial instruments and services and to individuals’ behaviours in the digital environment. As emphasised by the OECD (OECD, 2020), the digitisation of financial products and services contributes to increasing the complexity of financial choices and can shape new risks, such as digital financial exclusion, online fraud or personal data breaches. The low level of digital financial literacy configures in this context a new vulnerability profile that policy makers must identify and monitor to put in place corrective measures to protect the financial consumer.
The evidence gathered on basic financial knowledge, knowledge of sustainable finance and digitalised finance offers useful insights to define specific financial education initiatives aimed at the most vulnerable individuals – with lower income/wealth and lower level of education – characterised by higher risk aversion and lower willingness to expect returns over a medium-long time horizon.
For the first time, then, the Report analysed the issue of the information sources and documentation most frequently used by investors to gather information on the economy, finance and investment opportunities. Although traditional sources such as institutional (e.g., CONSOB, Bank of Italy, Italian Stock Exchange, ABI), specialised (e.g., Morningstar, Finanza.com, Borse.it) and financial intermediaries' websites are frequently used by Italian investors to obtain financial information, the digital age and artificial intelligence have made other sources of information such as the Internet and social media more influential in investment choices. ... more
In this evolving context, the socio-economic, demographic and psychological factors that may affect the use of these information sources in investment choices were investigated. The Report shows that certain categories of investors (women, the less affluent, the less educated and those with lower financial and digital literacy) are more likely to use social media frequently. The Survey also shows a low propensity of investors (particularly women and older people) to consult information literature on the issuer of an investment product and about financial products before making an investment choice - so-called 'prior information' - and a limited propensity to spend time researching economic and financial information to keep up to date – so-called 'ongoing information'.
The fourth Section of the Report then analyses the investment choices of Italian households, deepening into portfolio choices regarding sustainable investments and crypto-currencies. The most popular financial products are certificates of deposit and postal savings bonds, followed by government bonds, mutual funds and corporate bonds. ... more
The parameters included in the suitability assessment framework, for instance, the investor's knowledge, experience, financial situation and goals are also widely investigated. The analysis shows that investors tend to have considerable experience as measured by how many years they have been in the financial markets. Sustainability is not one of the main investment goals, even when associated with high financial returns. The investment time horizon most frequently preferred by investors is in the medium term, (i.e. 3-5 years; 38%). Among the factors that can guide the portfolio choices of financial decision-makers, financial knowledge (18%) and investment experience (9%), which are also parameters for assessing suitability under MiFID II regulations, are less frequently highlighted as relevant by respondents than investment holding period (35%) and expected returns (30%).
Concerning interest in crypto-currencies and online trading, while recalling the limitations of comparing the 2024 figures with that of the 2022 Survey cause of different sample construction process and questionnaire administration techniques, we note a substantial stability of interest in crypto-currencies and a significant increase in the percentage of individuals interested in online trading. ... more
As in 2022, among the factors that may incentivise the purchase of crypto-currencies are the opportunity for an immediate gain and the possibility to diversify one's portfolio. Also, in line with the previous survey, the attractiveness of online trading stems mainly from evaluations regarding the convenience and cost of the service as well as the possibility to access a wider range of products and to choose independently.
Although interest in crypto-assets is stable over time, from a factual point of view, the degree of popularity of crypto-currencies has increased and is 18% in 2024 (it was 8% in 2022). This is associated with a high degree of familiarity with this type of digital asset, as 86% of respondents claim to have at least heard of it (it should be noted, however, that the stated familiarity does not always correspond to actual knowledge: out of the aforementioned 86%, a substantial percentage of respondents - ranging between 23% and 50% - cannot answer the questions aimed at detecting knowledge of the main features of crypto-currencies).
The Report also analyses how investors make financial decisions. Overall, most survey participants declare to take (at least) some of their financial decisions autonomously (42%), while 40% take decisions with the support of a financial advisor or a bank employee ('advice'; up from 32% in 2022). ... more
32% of retail investors follow the advice of relatives, friends, and colleagues considered to be non-experts ('informal advice'), while 9% follow the advice of relatives, friends, and colleagues working in the financial sector ('informal advice by expert'). Finally, about 6% delegate their financial choices to intermediaries, while only 3% follow advice from social networks.
Investors who turn to the advisor most frequently hold mutual funds (51%), postal bonds (46%), bonds (44%) and government securities (43%).
Turning to the main findings of the focus on sustainable finance, i.e. the section that closes the Report, the Survey highlights that 50% of investors are interested in sustainable investments, a figure broadly in line with last year's survey. Interest in sustainability grows among investors supported by a professional (55% of cases), is more widespread among investors who show a higher aptitude to allocate part of their time to learn more and inform themselves about sustainable finance (64% of cases) and among those who already own sustainable investments (76%). ... more
Half of the respondents associate sustainable investment products with a medium-to long-term time horizon, 42% do not perceive them to be more profitable (partly explained by the reported lack of data on past returns), 38% do not associate them with lower costs and 36% do not consider them less risky, i.e. they attribute to such forms of investment financial characteristics that may make them less attractive than traditional investments that do not pursue sustainability goals. Investors report other deterrents to sustainable investment choices: 41% of respondents consider sustainable finance to be too opaque, 39% see it as a mere marketing exercise and 30% do not believe that sustainable investments can have an impact on sustainable development. In this context, 50% of respondents believe that advisors can recognise sustainable products, identifying in this professional figure an educational and informative reference point that could facilitate the move towards sustainability.
Based on the 2024 Survey, 20% of Italian financial decision-makers hold sustainable investments. This figure is up from 2022 (11%), but the share of respondents who say they do not hold this type of asset (72%) remains high. It is also noted that even among advised investors, interest is not always associated with the ownership of sustainable products; the figure highlights the so-called intention-action gap already highlighted in previous editions of the Report.
The Report was prepared by: Paola Deriu (coordinator) - CONSOB, Head of Research Department (p.deriu@consob.it) Dario Colonnello - CONSOB, Research Department (d.colonnello@consob.it) Daniela Costa - CONSOB, Research Department (d.costa@consob.it) Monica Gentile - CONSOB, Research Department (m.gentile@consob.it) Paola Soccorso - CONSOB, Research Department (p.soccorso@consob.it)
The opinions expressed in the Report are the authors' personal views and are in no way binding on Consob.
