Investing in capital markets is an important mechanism for building wealth. For those living on low and moderate incomes (LMI), market participation is particularly useful as a pathway to financial security. Yet, people living on LMI—who are disproportionately Black/African American and Hispanic/Latina women—face significant barriers when accessing investment opportunities. These include limited capital, financial knowledge, and exposure to investment opportunities (e.g., access to workplace retirement plans). The New Investor Roadmap provides detailed stages of the investor journey: the “Contemplating, stage, the “Starting” stage, the “Engaging” stage, and the “Integrating” stage.

This research was made possible with support from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.

The research in this report is part of Commonwealth’s long-term commitment to inclusive investing, enabling wealth creation through capital markets participation by low and moderate income, first-time investors.  It builds on critical prior research, including Commonwealth’s work with the Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program, supported by the Nasdaq Foundation, that identified a foundational framework for Inclusive Investing. A Framework for Inclusive Investing identified critical barriers that pose significant challenges for low and moderate income women of color to invest in capital markets. Those barriers include: having sufficient resources, access to capital markets, access to actionable knowledge about investing, and forming an investor identity.