Youngsters just don't know mutual fund shops. So concludes the team at Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Cogent Research.

"Gen Y lacks even a basic awareness of many of the leading mutual fund companies and the products they offer," the Cogent team stated.

That analysis comes from the industry research shop's newest Investor Brandscape annual report, based on a survey of 4,000 U.S. investors with at least $100,000 each in investable assets. The Cogent team found that the average affluent investor is familiar with 10.6 mutual fund shops. Yet the average Gen Y investor only knows of 5.3 mutual fund shops.

Whence the discrepancy? Meredith Lloyd Rice, senior project director and author of the report, notes that 20-something investors tend to rely much more heavily on social media, and much less on traditional television programming, newspapers and radio shows.

"Demonstrating a commitment to caring about Gen Y investors and engaging with them meaningfully in places and through media where they spend their time and energy makes sense," Lloyd Rice stated. 

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