Michelmores’ ‘Millennials, Money & Myths’ – a Trainee’s Perspective

When applying for training contracts, it is helpful to understand the culture and initiatives of the firm that you are applying for and why this differentiates them from their competitors. This research can also be very helpful for applicants to understand what is driving the firm and the direction in which it is going. This, in turn, can be useful to determine if the firm is one that you would want to work at.

Many people who are interested in Michelmores will also be familiar with the firm’s focus on understanding the needs of clients in the private wealth sector. This work spans throughout the three core sectors: Business, Private Client and Real Estate.

Michelmores has recently commissioned a study into the millennial generation and the ways in which this generation choose to invest their money to help the firm better understand the priorities of investors. The study, summarised below, asks investment questions to individuals born between 1981 and 1996 with investible assets of £25,000 or more.

Summarising the Study

• Most millennials have earnt money through saving their salary, as opposed to inheritance.
• A desirability for flexibility and risk aversion is driving millennials’ investment decision making.
• Stocks, shares, pensions and annuities are the most popular financial products among affluent millennials, yet investment in cryptocurrency is higher than expected.
• When considering impact investments, there is a disconnect between millennials’ social values and their investment behaviour.
• Unknown levels of risk, lack of information and personal circumstance or experiences are cited as reasons for not making impact investments.
• Affluent millennials are equally likely to research, use technology, and use financial advisors to manage their assets.
• Affluent millennials tend to prefer to use their money to travel, but saving for their future is clearly a priority.
• The majority of affluent millennials plan to keep working in some capacity throughout their lifetime.

Impact on a trainee

It is really interesting to see what the millennial generation are deciding to invest in and how this may influence certain sectors of the legal profession in the future.

Michelmores makes sure that trainees are aware of how these reports can shape the business and benefit clients, and also how we can get involved with increasing impact. This helps us understand the commercial and strategic side of Michelmores, placing trainees in a more commercially informed position ahead of qualification.