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ASIC’s Gen Z Report: Financially Engaged, Navigating Without a Map
Nearly one in four Gen Z Australians now holds crypto — up from 9% in 2023. Two in three of those holders take a speculative approach, including 29% trading on social media tips and 24% buying the latest coins trying to pick a winner. Fifteen percent say they invest just for “a bit of a punt.”
Trust in AI platforms sits at 64%. Trust in finfluencers at 52%. And 63% use social media as their primary source of financial guidance — with YouTube (30%), Instagram (19%), and TikTok (17%) leading the way. Almost three-quarters (72%) have seen social media ads encouraging crypto investment in the past year, and two in five (41%) have been directly contacted by someone offering to help them invest.
Here’s the paradox that should interest every adviser and every parent: this same generation ranks source credibility as their number one priority when choosing where to get financial information. They want trustworthy guidance — they’re just not finding it in traditional channels.
ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland put it plainly: “Financial information on social media and accessed through AI tools can be incomplete, promotional or misleading.” Yet 60% of Gen Z do also use formal or professional sources, and 50% turn to family and friends. The appetite for credible advice is there.
The advice profession doesn’t have a relevance problem with this generation. It has a distribution problem. The demand for expert, trustworthy guidance exists — it’s just being met by people with ring lights instead of qualifications. For parents or grandparents watching their adult children and grandchildren navigate this landscape, the question isn’t whether the next generation needs advice. It’s whether the advice profession is meeting them where they are.
It’s a question we’ve been thinking about for a while. More on that soon.
→ Our read? A generation that values credibility above all else is getting most of its financial guidance from sources with none. That’s not their problem — it’s ours to solve. Watch this space.