Global Investor Perspectives: 4 Ways Advisors Can Support Client Decisions

What matters to today’s global investors? In an environment shaped by information overload and market volatility, clients must navigate competing priorities and decide how to act. Advisors can help by filtering out distractions and offering clarity.

The Morningstar Investor Perspectives 2026: Retail Investors survey provides insights on the wide-ranging sentiments, behaviors, and preferences of global retail investors. Our findings were based on a total of 5,793 online responses collected from the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom represented across age, gender, ethnicity, household income, employment status, and investable assets.

When financial advisors cut through market noise and offer true support, they can guide retail investors to make better decisions and stay on track toward their goals.

Here are four actionable tips that advisors can use to help investors move forward with confidence.

Explore the full findings from the Morningstar Investor Perspectives: Retail Investors survey by region:

• United States
• Canada
• Australia
• United Kingdom

With everything from geopolitical tensions to inflation risks dominating the headlines, retail investors are often unsure what concerns to prioritize.

As shown below, this is most pronounced in the UK, where 61% of investors reported feeling uncertain or nervous about the market—meaning they think there’s too much volatility to many any decisions or it seems risky right now—compared with 58% in Canada, 57% in Australia, and 54% in the US.

Despite differences in intensity, the drivers of anxiety are generally consistent. Inflation is the top concern for investors across the US, Australia, and Canada (38% to 42%), while geopolitical tensions lead the way in the UK (38%). Geopolitical tensions also weigh heavily in Australia (39%), while tariffs and trade policy are more prominent in Canada (31%) and the US (27%).

This is an area where advisors can make a positive impact on investors’ well being. Participants who work with advisors reported feeling more optimistic and steady about the market compared to those who don’t. For example, 48% versus 34% in the UK, 54% versus 39% in the US, 46% versus 38% in Canada, and 52% versus 40% in Australia. In other words, financial advisors may offer support and reassurance that investors lack on their own.

These findings point to a clear pattern: Retail investors are not only seeking returns, but guidance as well. To better assist clients, advisors can provide behavioral coaching, maintain proactive and frequent communication, and add clear context around investment decisions.

Interest in private markets is growing globally, but investor knowledge remains an issue across regions. Fewer than one-quarter of participants reported understanding private markets—24% in the US, 19% in Canada, and 18% in both Australia and the UK. Participation also remains limited, as 45-60% don’t invest in alternatives at all.

And preferences in alternatives vary among those who do invest. This trend is reflected in the chart below, where private equity leads in Canada (24%) while cryptocurrency dominates in the US (28%) and the UK (23%). In Australia, private equity (20%) and structured products (18%) are rising. Despite these differences, investors are becoming more selective and balancing interest in alternatives with concerns around risk, liquidity, and transparency.

This behavior is further emphasized by a mismatch in time horizons. Although our framework recommends holding alternatives for at least 10 years, many retail investors are only comfortable with shorter periods.

Specifically, 41% of UK investors and more than half of investors in the US (52%) and Australia (55%) reported that they were comfortable holding alternatives for a maximum of three years.

This indicates that access alone isn’t enough to drive private market adoption for investors. By providing thorough education and setting realistic expectations, advisors can improve investor knowledge and better align private market exposure with portfolio goals.

Although trust in AI among retail investors is rising, usage tells a different story. More than one-third to nearly half of participants reported high trust in the tool (45% in the UK, 44% in Australia and the US, and 35% in Canada), yet only 2%-3% rely on it for most investment decisions.

Even millennials, who reported the highest trust in AI (42%-60%), use it primarily as a supporting tool (39%-50%). This signals that a key issue may be guidance on how to apply AI in practice rather than belief in its abilities.

The charts below reinforce this pattern in participants’ views on accountability. When following an AI-based recommendation that results in financial losses, US and UK retail investors tend to believe that the primary responsibility lies with themselves versus with the AI (45% and 51% compared with 26% and 24%).

In contrast, attitudes shift when considering advisor recommendations. Australians are more likely to see responsibility as shared regardless of source (52% AI, 68% advisor), while nearly half (48%) of Canadians place responsibility on the tool but shift to shared responsibility (41%) when following an advisor’s recommendation.

Put simply, investors view AI as a tool instead of an authority. They still place deeper trust in human judgment—both their own and that of an advisor—than they do in technology. Advisors play a critical role in bridging this gap by translating AI insights into contextual guidance, grounding decisions in accountability, and acknowledging AI limitations while meeting investors’ expectations for human interaction.

Investing for the long term may be a shared objective across regions but sustaining that commitment remains a key obstacle for investors.

Roughly two-thirds to three-quarters (67%-76%) of participants view long-term investing as appealing. Key goals include long-term growth potential (18%-23%), financial security (18%-24%), and wealth accumulation (12%-17%). However, common barriers exist like uncertainty around returns (16%-20%).

Still, about one-quarter of investors (27%-28%) say a more stable financial situation would increase their commitment to long-term investing. Retail investors also note the value of tools in maintaining focus, naming goal-tracking dashboards (39%-48%) as the most helpful.

The chart below highlights how definitions of long-term investing vary for investors—but are still broadly focused on retirement security (27%-30%), stability and peace of mind (21%-25%) and wealth growth (19%-27%). These definitions held across regions, indicating similar ideas but different priorities.

Where differences mainly exist is across generations. In all regions, retirement security is the primary representation of long-term investing for Generation X and baby boomers, while wealth growth and stability/peace of mind are the primary representations for Generation Z and Millennials. Context matters when considering these different client personas.

Even so, a majority of investors (58%-64%) believe long-term investing success is mostly within their control, with confidence generally increasing alongside investable asset levels.

Retail investors want to commit to long-term investing but may need help staying on track. Advisors can provide support by anchoring discussions in investing fundamentals, connecting long-term plans with success metrics, and managing investor concerns to keep clients invested over time.

Financial advisors are well positioned to support retail investors at every stage of their journey, particularly as more individuals consider entering the market. In fact, 10-18% of non-investors across regions cited that they’re likely to begin investing in the next three years.

When asked what would boost their confidence in getting started, non-investors reported clear explanations of different investment options (34%-40%) and guidance on how to assess risk tolerance (23%-33%) would be most helpful. This suggests that while non-investors might be interested in investing, many still need direction to take action. Advisors can make investing more accessible by simplifying decisions and clearly outlining next steps.

Looking for more tips? Discover behavioral finance insights to better understand the psychology behind clients’ investment questions and decisions, potentially leading to stronger client relationships.

• United States
• Canada
• Australia
• United Kingdom