The number of “do it yourself” investors in the US is expected to grow by between 4 and 5 per cent over the next two years, having expanded by around 5 per cent in 2012, according to a study by
Celent, the financial research and consulting firm.

The report, called The Race for Self-Directed Investors: Developments in Online Trading Among Brokers and Banks, said investors are choosing more direct control over their money, while brokers are putting more stress on themes such as mobility, social media, retirement services and fee-based products and guidance.

Discussing future growth rates, Celent said: “These modest growth rates are due primarily to slow growth in the traditional investor market. Growth in the active investor and active trader markets will exceed traditional investor growth.

“This will continue to change the balance of the self-directed market, with 43 per cent of the market comprising active investors, and 6-6.5 per cent comprising active traders by the end of 2014,” it said.

“The self-directed market never stays still. There have been a number of changes over the past 18 months. Some of these developments, such as the increasing number of women in the market and the gradual rebalancing away from traditional investors and toward active investors and traders, are continuations of existing trends,” said Alexander Camargo, analyst with Celent’s Securities & Investments Group and co-author of the report.

“Other trends, however, are more disruptive. Mobility and social media have come of age and are legitimate channels among online brokers. HTML5 and more advanced cloud-based trading platforms are just beginning to have an impact,” he said.