Amid market turbulence, self-directed investors keep the faith, study reveals

In a year marked by market volatility and uncertainty, self-directed investors appear to be holding firm.

Fidelity Investments’ inaugural State of the American Investor study, conducted between April 15 and 24, 2025, reveals that most self-directed traders expect their portfolios to maintain or better their performance in the months ahead. The study includes those investors who only manage some of their own assets.

The study finds that DIY investors are highly confident in their own abilities. Although almost half of respondents predict the market will perform worse in the next 12 months, 64% believe their own portfolios will perform the same or better in the same time period and see dips in the market as opportunities to invest more.

READ: How firms can win business from advice-seeking DIY investors

Those investors with more than 10 years of experience are relatively cautious with almost half prioritizing efforts to limit losses in the year ahead, and 35% say they have a lower risk tolerance now than last year.  

However, newer investors – those who have been investing for five years or less - are actively pursuing growth with around half intending to focus on higher-growth stocks in 2025 and are typically more risk-on than those who have been investing for longer.  

Many newer investors are also exploring crypto, covered calls, bond ladders, and other advanced strategies with 69% of this cohort expressing confidence in investing in non-traditional assets compared to just 29% of seasoned investors.

Newer investors are also five times more likely than seasoned investors to plan to start using margin and option trading strategies for the first time during the next 12 months and are more familiar with advanced income-generation strategies, while seasoned investors are more familiar with more traditional strategies.

Across both newer and seasoned investors, cash is the most commonly owned investment.

Around nine in ten respondents say they’ve felt successful in the last five years, but there is a wide gap in this regard between seasoned investors (94%) and relative newbies (72%).

 Among the traits of success are keeping composure during volatility (60%), seeing market dips as chance to invest (45%), taking the right level of risk for one’s goals (85%), and focusing on data (particularly historical performance) when making decisions (45%).

“Navigating shifting market conditions can be daunting for even the most experienced investors,” said Josh Krugman, SVP, brokerage at Fidelity Investments. “Whether they’ve been investing for more than a decade or only recently started trading, the strength of Fidelity’s platform and the depth of our capabilities provide traders with the tools, timely insights, and resources they need to be confident investors.”