Then along came Robinhood Markets Inc. “Our customers are the next generation of investors,” the company said at its first investor day last week. Since launching its trading app 10 years ago, Robinhood has focused on wooing those who haven’t traditionally had brokerage accounts. Today, three quarters of its 25 million customers are aged 43 or below, including a quarter who, at 27 or younger, are members of Gen Z. The median Robinhood customer is 35.
A well-known pundit once said of English football, “you can’t win anything with kids.” He turned out to be wrong: In 1996, Manchester United won two trophies with six players under the age of 23. But for a period, it was deemed accepted wisdom.
The same is said of financial services. Firms have historically shunned younger customers, focusing their marketing on older prospects who are typically more affluent and offer greater revenue potential. Wealth-management firms in particular have long taken the view that it’s better to attract new customers once they’ve made money rather than sink too much cost into going too early.
