Carl Hazeley, CEO of Finimize digs into what sets modern retail investors apart, why confidence is rising, and how an “investment-first” mindset is reshaping consumer behaviour. Carl also shares where financial institutions can win and how to balance bite-sized updates with deep research that drives better decisions.
What key differences define today’s retail investor compared to previous generations, and how should financial services adapt to engage them?
Modern retail investors have grown up in the digital age, they’re comfortable doing their own research and making their own decisions, but they need the right tools and information to do it well. They’re action-oriented, short on time, and look for like-minded people to discuss their ideas with.
Previous generations relied on financial advisers or stockbrokers, but this generation has started to benefit from a reduction in information asymmetry between professional investors and themselves. They now have direct access to much more news, analysis, and research – and expect Netflix-like personalisation. They want content that’s relevant to their specific investment journey, not generic advice based on demographics.
Financial services firms that will succeed are those that reflect this reality: the old model of gatekeeping information and charging premium fees for basic advice is dead. Instead, institutions should focus on empowering investors with accessible, high-quality insights and letting them make informed choices.
Your Modern Investor Pulse survey shows 70% of retail investors expect markets to be higher in 12 months. What’s driving this newfound confidence?
The confidence surge we’re seeing is quite remarkable – a 10 percentage point jump from 60% in Q2 which is being driven by several factors.
First, retail investors have demonstrated incredible resilience through market volatility earlier this year. They’ve learned to look beyond short-term noise and focus on long-term wealth building. The data shows rather than hoping for gains, they’re actively positioning for them by cutting discretionary spending to fund investments.
Second, these investors understand technology, digitalisation, and innovation in ways that give them confidence in the future economy. They’re backing companies like Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft because they genuinely understand these businesses and their growth potential.
Finally, the democratisation of information has made retail investors more sophisticated. They’re not making short-term decisions based on “hot tips” from questionable sources – they’re doing intentional research that allows them to feel confident in their analysis and investment decisions.
With 44% of investors cutting everyday spending to fund investments, how is this “investment-first” mentality reshaping consumer behaviour and retail sectors?
This is perhaps the most striking finding from our latest survey. The data shows 71% are cutting back on dining and entertainment, and 60% are reducing spending on clothing and personal items. But despite cutting subscription services, these same investors are buying shares in Amazon and Netflix. They’re shifting from being consumers to being shareholders.
This represents a massive behavioural change. Previous generations saved first, then invested what was left. Today’s investors are investing first and cutting consumption to fund it. They view their investment strategy as savings for the future, 89% told us this, which explains why they’re willing to sacrifice today’s pleasures for tomorrow’s wealth.
For consumer-facing sectors, traditional consumption patterns are being disrupted. Companies need to think about how to capture these investors as shareholders if they’re potentially losing them as customers.
What multi‑billion‑pound opportunities exist for financial institutions that successfully win over empowered retail investors?
Our latest research has quantified a massive opportunity that most investment platforms are missing. We estimate there’s £500 million in annual revenue sitting on the table globally, and it all comes down to education.
We found that 59% of retail investors say mobile trading apps are the key driver of their market power. These platforms have nailed accessibility – they’re slick, intuitive, and have democratised market access.
But while platforms excel at making investing easy, they’re failing to provide the education that unlocks higher-value user behaviour.
The institutions that can combine slick interfaces with genuine financial education will capture this enormous opportunity.
Additionally, over the coming decades, the greatest wealth transfer in history is underway – $124 trillion is set to change hands by 2048, yet according to Cerulli Associates, over 70% of inheritors fire or change their financial advisor after inheritance. This presents a huge opportunity for financial institutions – those that can win loyalty and trust through early education and adding genuine value, will have access to this trillion dollar opportunity.
How can banks and asset managers use educational content as a competitive advantage in an increasingly commoditised market?
Content is the new customer experience. As financial products become commoditised, the battle for differentiation will be fought on the strength of financial education and engagement.
But the crucial point here is that it has to be genuinely useful content, not marketing disguised as education. Retail investors can spot the difference immediately, and they’ll walk away from anything that feels like a sales pitch.
The institutions winning this game are those creating content that actually helps people make better financial decisions, regardless of whether they buy that institution’s products. Whilst this may sound counterintuitive, what it does is builds trust and positions you as the expert they turn to when they’re ready to act.
We work with over 350 financial institutions on this exact challenge. The ones seeing real results are those willing to provide genuine value through their content – answering real questions, explaining complex topics clearly, and helping investors understand their options without pushing specific products.
What best practices have you observed in democratising financial expertise through accessible, contextual information platforms?
The key is making expert-level analysis accessible without dumbing it down. At Finimize, we’ve cracked this by taking the same quality of research you’d get from Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley and delivering it in a format people actually want to consume.
First, cut the jargon. Financial services love complexity, it makes them feel important. But modern retail investors want clarity. If you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
Second, context is everything. Don’t just tell people what happened, tell them why it matters to them specifically. Our AI personalisation systems understand that someone reading about property and mortgages needs different insights than someone focused on tech stocks.
Third, respect your audience’s intelligence. These aren’t unsophisticated punters, they’re smart people who want smart insights delivered efficiently. Give them the same quality analysis the professionals get, just without the 40-page reports nobody reads.
How do you balance delivering bite‑sized insights with the depth required for informed investment decisions?
The key is understanding that different investors need different levels of depth at different times.
We’ve developed a layered approach. Someone might start with a piece of news that catches their attention, then later move onto a bite-sized insight that helps them understand the potential opportunities in a given sector or asset class, then dive deeper into our research reports when they’re ready to make decisions. The crucial thing is making sure each layer adds genuine value.
Our data shows that users who engage with our deeper research content – the stuff our analysts spend serious time on – are 15-20 percentage points more likely to convert to paid subscriptions. That tells us depth matters, but it has to be delivered in a way that respects people’s time and attention.
It’s like building a pyramid. The broad base is accessible insights that serve everyone, but the point at the top is sophisticated analysis for those who want to dig deeper. Both levels need to maintain the same standards of accuracy and usefulness.
What role does community play in Finimize’s model, and how does it enhance user engagement?
Community is absolutely central to what we do. We’ve built one of the largest retail investor communities globally, with over one million subscribers – and 70,000 who attend our events annually.
The key insight is that people learn better when they can apply expert analysis to real situations alongside peers facing similar challenges. Our community creates this environment where professional-grade research meets practical application.
It also serves as our early warning system. Our community often signals shifts in investor sentiment and behaviour before they show up in traditional market data, which helps us stay ahead of trends and create more relevant content.
How should financial institutions integrate modern content strategies into their digital channels to meet retail investors where they are?
The biggest mistake I see is institutions creating content in isolation from their actual customer experience. Start by understanding that retail investors don’t live in your product silos. They don’t think “I need a pension” or “I want an ISA”, they think “I want to buy a house” or “I’m worried about retirement”. Your content needs to match how they actually think about money, not how your organisation is structured.
Second, meet them where they are, not where you want them to be. That might mean TikTok for younger investors, LinkedIn for professionals, or email newsletters for others. It also means, if everyone’s focused on the latest in AI or tariffs, you’re not going to cut through by talking about cash ISAs. Use the zeitgeist as a hook into the topic you want to discuss.
Finally, make it interactive. The days of broadcasting one-way content are over. Create opportunities for questions, feedback, and community discussion. The institutions doing this well are building genuine relationships, not just pushing out marketing materials.
As CEO, how do you measure Finimize’s impact on investor outcomes and ensure you’re continually evolving to meet user needs?
This is something I think about constantly. Traditional metrics like page views or time on site don’t tell you if you’re actually helping people make better financial decisions.
We track several indicators. First, are our users staying engaged over time? Not just clicking, but genuinely consuming and acting on our content. Second, are they making more informed decisions?
Our quarterly Modern Investor Pulse survey is crucial here. It’s our continuous feedback loop where we track investment journeys, confidence levels, and behavioural changes across our community. Every quarter, we’re learning something new about how retail investors think and behave, and that feeds directly back into our product development.
But the real measure is whether we’re achieving our mission. Giving people the tools to become smarter investors. That means looking at long-term outcomes, not just short-term engagement metrics.
Ultimately, success for me is when someone tells us they made a better financial decision because of something they learned from Finimize. Everything else – revenue, growth, metrics – flows from those moments of value creation.
