Millennials trust bitcoin more than banks

Millennials are turning a blind eye to banks and betting on bitcoin to boost their portfolio, according to Wealthsimple CEO Michael Katchen, a millennial investment specialist.

“Everybody is putting trust in bitcoin these days in the same way they saw the dot-com bubble. It’s sexy, it’s growing like crazy, [and] people think that’s great,” Katchen told the FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.”

Despite this, Katchen advises minimizing exposure to bitcoin and looking to socially responsible investments which seek to align with personal values.

“Don’t put more than 5% of your portfolio in something like bitcoin because we have no idea what that’s going to do in the future,” he said. “The key is be comfortable that whatever you invest [in bitcoin] may go to zero and put the rest in a thoughtful diversified portfolio.”

Rather than investing in individual stocks, Katchen suggests looking to bank and technology stocks along with bonds and real estate to match your long-term risk tolerance.

“The data would show that if you just maximize your profit by picking stocks, [and] trusting investors that say that they are the best stock pickers on the street, you’d actually underperform the market in the long term,” he added.