Gen Z investors are scrambling to protect their portfolios from political uncertainty as the midterms approach, but their anxiety could end up costing them.
A whopping 72% of Gen Z investors said they had already made changes to their retirement savings or investment portfolios in anticipation of the November elections, according to a survey from the Nationwide Retirement Institute. That’s far more than the 17% of Baby Boomers who reported doing the same.
But the gap isn’t a stampede for the exits. About as many Gen Z investors added money to take advantage of current conditions as moved into safer investments, according to the survey. The first generation to grow up with free trades on their phones is treating the election as a market event.
Boomers’ decision to wait it out may be less about hard-won wisdom than about where they are in life. Most boomers are drawing down their savings or close to it, so a portfolio “change” for them usually means selling. They’re also more likely to already have an adviser — 43% do, according to Northwestern Mutual — and for shares held in taxable accounts, holding until death lets heirs skip the capital-gains bill entirely.
Across all generations, 40% of investors have made changes ahead of the election on Nov. 3, which will determine which party controls either chamber of Congress.
Mark Hackett, the chief market strategist for Nationwide’s Investment Management Group, told Fortune that younger investors aren’t necessarily more fearful than older generations. Instead, they are changing the way they interact with financial markets as well as how they react to the massive amounts of financial information and trading tools at their fingertips.
“Younger investors came of age in an environment where investing is highly mobile, social and increasingly real-time, so adjusting a portfolio can feel less like a major decision and more like an ongoing process with almost no friction between a headline, an investing app and a potential portfolio adjustment,” Hackett said.
That accessibility can be both good and bad. While younger investors have unprecedented access to financial information, it also means they have more opportunities to make impulsive decisions based on breaking news instead of a company’s financials or an analysis of economic conditions.
“The question, therefore, is less about risk tolerance or volatility, and more about whether greater access to information is improving decision-making or simply increasing the temptation to trade,” Hackett said. “The latter can be fatal for portfolio longevity.”
“For younger investors, frequent portfolio changes can interrupt the power of compounding over decades,” he said.
Staying invested
The survey, conducted between late August and early September, included 2,029 American investors with at least $10,000 in investable assets and 538 financial advisers and financial professionals.
Despite the potential for turbulence caused by the midterms, the financial advisers surveyed recommend staying the course. More than half said maintaining an existing investment strategy is generally the best approach during an election year.
The market’s previous performance helps explain their advice.
Since 1950 the S&P 500 has consistently risen in the 12 months following midterm elections and has returned gains of 15% on average, according to J.P. Morgan Asset Management. While the past doesn’t predict future performance, selling in times of uncertainty can be a gamble.
Hackett said he recommends investors maintain a diversified portfolio and rebalance their investments only periodically depending on their desired risk exposure.
That doesn’t mean investors should never make changes. Hackett said adjusting investments to reflect personal financial goals, changes in risk tolerance, or shifting income needs are good reasons to make changes. Still, they should exercise caution, he added.
“Investors should be careful not to mistake a source of uncertainty for a source of lasting impairment to long-term returns,” he said.
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