AI chatbots rank amongst young investors’ top tools

Financial news and stock screeners trail the tech in the latest ranking.

Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots have become the third most-used investing tool amongst Singapore residents aged 18 to 40, with 26% using them as part of their investment activity, according to a report from Trust Bank and Grapevine Consulting.

Watchlists rank first at 30%, followed by price alerts at 27%. AI chatbots rank ahead of portfolio trackers at 24%, manual spreadsheets at 23%, financial news aggregators at 21%, technical analysis and charting at 21%, and stock screeners at 19%.

The report said AI is being adopted “primarily as a research and decision-support tool”.

The use of AI comes as young Singapore investors increasingly manage their own portfolios, with 65% of active investors making investment decisions independently.

Some 34% invest fully independently, whilst 31% make decisions mostly on their own and discuss them with family or friends.

Digital platforms also play a key role in how investors find information, with YouTube the most-used source for investment ideas at 40%.

It is followed by TikTok and Instagram at 32%, and financial news at 31%, whilst Telegram and Discord account for 22%, and friends and family account for 17%.

Investors also favour accessible and actionable educational content. Short videos of less than five minutes rank first at 41%, followed by personalised analysis at 36% and market commentary at 35%.

The report found that 51% of Singapore residents aged 18 to 40 are actively investing, whilst 33% have never invested and 16% have lapsed.

Amongst active investors aged 18 to 24, 74% made their first investment by age 20, whilst 88% of those aged 25 to 40 started investing by age 30.

Around 65% of active investors also made an investment transaction within the past month, whilst 65% use dollar-cost averaging.