How Do Households Invest on Behalf of Their Children? Evidence from a Robo-Advisor

Alexis Direr and Indigo Jones

Annals of Economics and Statistics, 2025, issue 160, 73-92

Abstract: Despite the practice being commonplace, little is known about how parents invest in financial markets on behalf of their children. Using a large dataset from the leading French robo-advisor, we find that fathers are more likely to open investment accounts for their sons than their daughters for those aged 12 and above. Since fathers predominantly manage children's contracts within the family, this results in a higher number of savings contracts opened for boys. Additionally, although fathers tend to choose riskier investment profiles for their children compared to mothers, no discernible difference in investment strategy is observed between sons and daughters for either parent.

Keywords: Delegated Portfolio Choice; Son Preference; Gendered Risk Preference; Robo-Advisor; Household Finance. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D14 D15 D81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:adr:anecst:y:2025:i:160:p:73-92

DOI: 10.2307/48857613

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