The FINRA Investor Education Foundation found persistent disparities in taxable investment account ownership among various racial and ethnic groups.
In a study that examined investment account ownership over a six-year period, the Foundation found that "African American and Hispanic/Latino respondents were largely underrepresented as taxable investors and overrepresented in households without any investment accounts." After controlling for sociodemographic variables, the Foundation found, however, that the "gap in the likelihood of owning a taxable investment account between white and African American and Hispanic/Latino adults closed substantially, particularly in 2018." The Foundation reported that the "proportion of African Americans owning taxable investment accounts increased from 22 to 26 percent from 2012 to 2018." The Foundation highlighted that the proportion of African Americans owning a taxable investment account increased by 18 percent over the six-year period of the study. When accounting for gender, no significant difference emerged between white men and women, but African American, Hispanic/Latina and Asian women were less likely to own a taxable investment account than were men of the same group.
The Foundation concluded that African American and Hispanic/Latino adults "continue to be underrepresented among investor households in America, despite modest gains by African Americans in recent years."
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