Australians are rebalancing their portfolios dramatically. 75% plan to increase US exposure while 67% are doubling down on local markets. The strategy reflects confidence despite geopolitical concerns.
What’s Happening: Australian investors are entering 2026 with unprecedented enthusiasm for artificial intelligence and aggressive global diversification.
Why This Matters: This marks a fundamental shift in how Australian investors approach markets. The appetite for AI and technology, combined with strategic rebalancing toward US markets, signals investors believe high-growth sectors will outperform in 2026 despite macro uncertainty.
The numbers are striking. Ninety-two percent of Australian investors express interest in leveraging AI tools for investment support. More than half are already using AI occasionally or regularly. Another 37% are interested but haven’t started yet. The adoption curve is steep and accelerating.
This isn’t passive curiosity. It reflects genuine conviction about AI’s utility in investment decision-making.
“It is clear investors are excited about using AI as a powerful complement, not a replacement, for human judgment. The demand is practical, investors want AI to surface ideas, summarise complex research, and identify potential risks to improve decision quality,” explains Michael McCarthy, Moomoo chief executive officer.
The split between AI-only users and hybrid approaches tells an important story. Sixty-two percent of investors want both AI and human advice, seeking a balanced approach where technology and expertise work in tandem. Only 12% commit exclusively to AI tools.
The specific uses reveal investor priorities. Most want basic support: finding investment ideas, identifying opportunities within noise, and surfacing research that matters. But a sizable minority signals something deeper. Thirty-one percent want AI to create an entire investment plan from scratch, indicating growing trust in AI for structured financial planning.
That trend accelerates confidence. When AI stops being a research assistant and becomes a portfolio architect, investor behaviour shifts fundamentally.
Where investors are placing bets
The investment intentions for 2026 reveal a dramatic rebalancing already underway.
Seventy-five percent of investors plan to increase US market exposure. Sixty-seven percent plan to increase Australian market exposure. On the surface, this appears contradictory. Examined closely, it reveals strategy: investors are diversifying globally while maintaining local conviction.
The shift is significant because it inverts current allocation. Currently, 82% of investors hold Australian investments, while 65% hold US investments. By year-end, the intention is clear: increase US weighting substantially while refusing to abandon the local market.
Technology and AI dominate sector conviction. Forty-seven percent will maintain current technology investments, while 43% plan to increase them. Only 10% plan to reduce exposure. This demonstrates remarkable consistency: investors collectively believe technology will outperform in 2026.
Beyond equities, appetite spreads. Precious metals and cryptocurrencies are likely choices for a third of all investors surveyed. Exchange-traded fund usage is set to rise, with 50% planning to increase adoption and another 46% considering it.
The pattern is unmistakable: investors are concentrating bets on growth sectors, particularly in the US, while diversifying across asset classes to hedge risk. It’s an aggressive posture dressed in cautious language.
Why confidence outpaces certainty
Here lies the paradox. Sixty-eight percent of investors plan to maintain current risk levels. Twenty-five percent are willing to increase. Only 7% plan to reduce. This appetite for risk matches expectations of market returns between 5% to 15% in Australia and slightly higher in the US.
Yet only 50% expect to achieve their investing goals in 2026. A further 39% are unsure. Longer term, retirement confidence is mixed, with only 22% fully confident of meeting their goals.
This confidence gap is real and revealing. Investors believe markets will deliver solid returns. They’re willing to take risk to capture those returns. But they’re genuinely uncertain whether their individual strategies will work.
“While investors are more uncertain than pessimistic, they want and need better tools and insights to manage risk and navigate a complex macro landscape to improve their confidence, whether that’s a financial adviser or AI assistants in their trading platform,” McCarthy explains.
The economic landscape justifies both confidence and caution. Sixty-four percent identify broad economic concerns as a key risk influencer. Market volatility concerns 50%. Geopolitics influences 47%. These aren’t fringe worries. They’re mainstream concerns shaping allocation decisions.
Yet on the homefront, cost-of-living pressure is shaping investors’ allocation but not stopping investing. About 40% plan to invest more funds in 2026, with a similar amount intending to maintain current levels. This reflects a broad refusal to pull back from markets despite household budget tightness.
The survey, which polled 642 active Moomoo users aged mostly between 24 and 44 with less than five years investing experience, captures a specific demographic: engaged, relatively inexperienced investors with high technology adoption and global ambitions.
For this cohort, 2026 represents a year of conviction paired with uncertainty. They’re doubling down on AI and technology, rebalancing toward US markets, and maintaining risk appetite despite recognising genuine macro headwinds. Whether that conviction translates into achieved goals remains to be seen. What’s clear is that Australian investors are placing their bets with eyes open and technology as their trusted co-pilot.
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