ASX shares investors are more likely to consult friends and family or read books or social media posts to expand their financial knowledge than visit a professional advisor, new research shows.
Online trading platform Stake conducted a survey of more than 2,000 Australian investors who owned either ASX shares or overseas stocks in May.
The results reveal the 10 biggest influences on Aussies' investment knowledge.
Let's review the findings.
Here's how ASX shares investors build their know-how
The survey shows investors look to a large variety of sources to learn how to invest and build wealth.
Here are the top five sources:
1/ Friends and family
About 54% of respondents said friends and family had the biggest influence on their investing knowledge.
2/ Finance and investing books on ASX shares and other assets
The survey found 43% of ASX shares investors have read books to gain an understanding of how to make money from shares and other asset classes, such as real estate investment.
3/ Social media platforms
'Tis the era of Instagram, Facebook, and X, with 27% of ASX shares investors citing social media as a source of financial education.
4/ Professional financial advisor
Seeking advice from an expert is the fourth most popular way to gain knowledge, with 26% of investors choosing to take this path.
5/ News websites and magazines
The survey found that 22% of investors look to news sites and magazines to boost their knowledge.
The Fool is one news site that ASX shares investors may find useful. Our Education Centre is full of articles to help you learn and progress on your investment journey.
Some of the topics we cover include:
- How much money do you need to start investing?
- How to research stocks
- How to read stock charts
- Understanding balance sheets
- How to buy US shares in Australia
5 other ways ASX shares investors gain knowledge
ASX shares investors mentioned five other avenues for boosting their investment expertise.
These included on-the-job learning during their careers, podcasts, higher education, and government resources. Only 10% to 11% said they received some financial education at school.
Foolish takeaway
Here at The Fool, we recommend that investors undertake a fundamental analysis of each of the ASX shares they're interested in investing in.
The survey indicated that many investors today prefer exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to individual stocks.
ETFs are a great option for investors who do not want to spend time researching individual shares.
The most popular ETF among survey respondents was the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS).
The VAS ETF is an index-based ETF that tracks the performance of the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO).
This gives investors exposure to some of the biggest ASX shares, such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd (ASX: CBA), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) and CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL).
While financial education and learning are important, AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) chief economist Dr Shane Oliver says knowing yourself is also critical if you're going to invest in shares.
You can read Dr Oliver's view on the psychological elements of investing here.
