Portfolio | Millenials or generation Y taking charge as biggest investors in the US

A new generation of young investors like to invest by listening to their parents and would bet on stocks that they grew up with such as Disney or lean heavily on technology like Apple and Google, a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch said.

The report found some of those 18 to 34 years old still get pocket money from their parents and believe in sharing instead of ownership.

With that in mind, these youngsters are in no hurry to buy their own car or own a home but like to live with their parents or grandparents. They also like to invest in stocks of companies in education, online shopping, good food and wine, and of course green firms protecting the environment.

Merrill Lynch calls them Millennials or generation-Y. This group is becoming the most dominant age group in the US this year, and their attitudes and investment choices would impact the markets for years and even decades to come.

The number of Millennials in the US now stands at 75 million and they are close to overtaking the Baby Boomers who are retiring in ever bigger numbers by the day. The Boomers are those born roughly from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s immediately after World War Two and it is currently the biggest and most affluent chunk of the population in the United States.

The population of Millenials should hit 81.1 million by 2036 and become the largest living generation in the United States by then.