Retirement confidence lags as investors turn to AI

Retirement has emerged as a central concern for investors globally, but a lack of confidence and financial literacy is keeping many savers on the sidelines, according to Amundi's latest global investor study.

The third edition of Amundi's Decoding Investors study surveyed 17,000 respondents across 26 countries and found personal savings and investments are expected to provide 42% of investor's retirement income, ahead of state provisions and workplace pensions.

However, only 23% of investors said they were very confident about achieving long-term financial security, down from 26% a year earlier.

Professional advice is a significant factor in retirement confidence, with half of advised investors saying they were very confident about funding retirement, compared with 14% of those who have never accessed advice.

Amundi found 43% of savers expected to start investing within the next 12 months, rising to 62% among those aged 21 to 30. However, 39% said fear of losing money remained a barrier, contributing to continued high cash holdings.

The study also highlighted a gap between perceived and actual investment knowledge, with 70% of investors who described themselves as experts failing to correctly answer three basic financial literacy questions.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming part of investors decision making, with 70% saying they had used AI to help make investment decisions. Of those, 59% had acted on AI recommendations.

Regular use of AI assistance for investment ideas or information also quadrupled over the past year to 19%, while 46% of investors said they sought investment information through influencers.

Amundi deputy general manager and head of clients group Fannie Wurtz said the findings highlighted the challenge of helping more savers participate in capital markets.

"While funding retirement becomes a central concern for households globally, the third edition of our Decoding Investors study highlights a pressing challenge: helping more savers become investors and enter capital markets," Wurtz said.

"For our industry, this means strengthening trust, improving access to investor education notably through digital channels and offering simple, transparent and accessible solutions."

More than 60% of investors said they had access to at least some professional financial advice, with 59% receiving all or part of their advice online.

Wurtz said other contributing factors included demographic changes, growing pressures and changes in savings landscape.

"As demographic change, growing pressure on retirement systems and digitalisation reshape the savings landscape, individuals are increasingly being called upon to take greater responsibility for their long-term financial security," Wurtz said.

"The challenge - and the opportunity - is to help more savers become investors, putting their savings to work for the future. Many people understand the importance of investing, yet too many still hesitate to take action."