Building a Financially Capable America Through Education and Research

Little research is publicly available about retail investors’ understanding and approach to ESG investing, which incorporates environmental, social and governance considerations into investment decision-making. This study by the FINRA Foundation and NORC at the University of Chicago examines retail investors’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related ESG investing.

This study examines the effectiveness of financial education using data from 76 randomized experiments across 33 different countries covering over 160,000 people. The analysis suggests that financial education is cost-effective and improves both financial knowledge and financial behaviors.

This study found that older adults who misperceive their memory skills exhibit poorer financial decision making.

This study examined the major factors tied to scam susceptibility among African American older adults. Our findings suggest that key risk factors relate to deficits in semantic memory (that is, conceptual knowledge), financial and health literacy, and psychological wellbeing—all of which are also tied to scam susceptibility among white older adults.

When testing investing knowledge, language matters. This study from the FINRA Foundation and NORC at the University of Chicago suggests that investing jargon commonly used in assessments can hide what female, African American, and Hispanic/Latino consumers really know about investing.

This research, Bridging the Divide: A Closer Look at Changes in the Racial and Ethnic Composition of Investor Households, explores the racial and ethnic composition of investors over a six-year period. The findings suggest that while African American and Hispanic/Latino adults continue to be under-represented in the investor ranks, once sociodemographic variables are controlled for, the gap in the likelihood of owning a taxable investment account between white and African American and Hispanic/Latino adults closes substantially.

In order to expand the pipeline of researchers from racial and ethnic backgrounds, the FINRA Foundation offers fellowships to advanced doctoral candidates pursuing dissertation research centrally concerning financial services and capital markets