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What Matters to Today’s Clients? Morningstar Experts Answer Key Questions
How investors think about alternatives, market uncertainty, and financial goals according to our latest retail investor survey.
Key Takeaways
Advisors view alternatives as a diversification tool, while investors are primarily driven by the potential for higher returns, highlighting an opportunity for deeper client conversations around these investments.
Even though investors may be influenced by media and other information sources, advisors play an important role in helping separate noise from relevant information.
Investors are more likely to stay on track with their goals—even with market volatility—when they have a clearly defined financial plan.
Today’s investors are facing a financial landscape shaped by information overload and market volatility. Advisors play a critical role in filtering out distractions and enhancing client trust. But first, they must understand how investors think about risk, opportunities, and long-term goals.
In our recent webinar, Morningstar Investor Perspectives: Transforming 2026 Insights Into Advisor Strategies, Head of Advisor Software Thomas Aviles and Senior Director of Market Research Joe Agostinelli walked through the US findings from our latest retail investor survey. Based on a total of 2,000 online responses, we take a closer look at the wide-ranging attitudes, behaviors, and preferences impacting investor decision-making today.
Following the presentation, advisors asked about key topics including alternative investments and market uncertainty. Here’s what our experts had to say.
How Should Advisors Talk About Alternative Investments?
Agostinelli: We asked what are the driving factors in investing in alternatives for your clients from the advisor perspective and then what are the driving factors of wanting to invest in alternatives from the retail investor perspective.
As Thomas said, there was not alignment between the two groups. The advisors said it was a diversification tool—that’s why they would primarily bring alternatives into a client portfolio.
On the retail investor side, they had a few different areas where it was a little higher than the advisors in terms of why they wanted to invest in alternatives, but the primary driver was around potential for higher returns.
Given that disparity, that's an opportunity for advisors to have a conversation with clients around alternatives, what they can provide, why they would be included in a portfolio, what the different types of alternatives are, and what's going to be the best fit for their client.
Aviles: I think it all comes down to education information. It's one thing to understand an alternative investment—how it's supposed to perform, what's its purpose, is it high quality or not. That's something we focus on a lot at Morningstar.
But that's just one side of the equation. We also have to understand: Is this actually appropriate for the client given their goals and financial situation? It's not enough just to understand the investment, we also have to understand its appropriateness for the client.
We just had a recent semiliquid fund report come out that talks a lot about these different types of investment vehicles. I recommend that as a good starting point to try to understand these a little bit more.
And then certainly within our own solutions and tools like Direct Advisory Suite, we have different types of workflows that help people understand portfolio composition and appropriateness for the client.
Do Investors Choose Assets Based on Knowledge or Media?
Agostinelli: We talked about access when we looked at crypto. It’s just incredibly easy to invest in, so that accessibility may also be driving it. I think some of those sources have more influence on certain folks than others. I hope it comes down to mostly understanding of the products—what they can potentially get out of it, any fees or costs involved, those kinds of factors. But I'm sure the sources that they expose themselves to have a pretty significant influence on what they're doing.
Aviles: The media’s job is to be effective in influencing. That’s certainly something that advisors and clients have to battle.
Agostinelli: Coming back to being able to separate the noise—separating what's accurate from what's not. Having access to an advisor can help to cut through that noise and put it into context.
Are Clients More Concerned About Missing Goals or Delays?
Aviles: I would say a quick thing is that you tend to be more concerned about this stuff when you don't have a formal financial plan or those goals aren't clearly defined.
Agostinelli: I agree. If you have that plan in place, even with volatility and any concerns that come up around goals, minor tweaks here and there are probably going to get you back on track if you set it up appropriately.
It also depends on stage of life. If you're closer to retirement, you're more worried about that potentially getting pushed out a little bit. When you're younger, it’s more, “Am I actually going to be able to achieve what I've laid out here?”
How Advisors Can Move Forward With Confidence
Morningstar’s 2026 investor survey points to a consistent theme: The advisor's competitive edge lies in clarity and the human element. Investors are engaged and have access to more tools than ever, yet they still place significant value on professional guidance when decisions feel large or uncertain.
For advisors, the takeaway is practical: Close the gaps to provide clarity. By helping clients understand their options, reinforcing the value you provide, and keeping their focus on long-term goals, it can be easier to build stronger relationships and deliver outcomes.
