Something shifted mid-survey. Investors polled earlier in the collection window favored energy and power generation for AI-driven returns by a wide margin. By the time later respondents answered, just days on, chipmakers and hyperscalers had already started clawing share back. For a trading platform, that's not noise in the data. That's the trade.
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The Q4 2026 Modern Investor Pulse surveyed nearly 2,500 retail investors and captured something trading platforms should care about more than almost anyone else in this list: modern investors are watching sector rotation in near real time, and they're positioned to act on it.

The AI trade is rotating under your users' feet

Across the full survey period, energy and power generation led as the area investors expect the strongest AI-related returns (45%), ahead of chipmakers (41%), robotics (33%), and cybersecurity (30%). 
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But split the responses by date and the picture moves: among those surveyed September 12–14, energy's lead narrowed to 41% from 47% earlier in the period, while chipmakers rose to 43% from 40% and hyperscalers to 18% from 15%. 

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A year ago the AI trade was about owning the biggest names. Now investors are asking a different question – who actually powers the growth – and adjusting their answer as prices move.

Risk appetite is climbing, not falling

25% of investors plan to take more risk over the next three months, up from 23% last quarter, while those planning to reduce risk dropped to 26% from 27%. 
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40% plan to invest more than they did last quarter, up from 39%. 
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Bitcoin sentiment is moving the same direction: 58% now expect it higher in a year, up from 54%, the first uptick in a year, with bitcoin still trading roughly 40% below its October 2025 all-time high. 
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This is a user base leaning back into risk, not away from it.

They buy dips, and they know it

The rotation data is consistent with a "buy the dip" instinct the Pulse has picked up on before – a behavior that's been rewarded for years and that investors appear to be repeating in real time as energy names cooled off in favor of names that had sold off. 
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That's a live, actionable signal, not a quarterly observation.

Even active traders want in on IPOs on their terms

Just 10% of investors want IPO access at launch regardless of price. A little more than a quarter would invest at launch only if the valuation looks attractive, and 18% don't rate IPOs as good investments at all. 
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That discipline is well-founded – the majority of IPOs from 1980–2022 lost money over three years, with average IPO returns of around 6% annualized against roughly 11% for the broader market. Even your most active, risk-tolerant users are pricing in that history.

What to do about it

Publish content around sector rotation as it happens, not just after the quarter closes – the mid-survey shift in AI preference shows your users are exactly the audience positioned to trade that signal in real time. 
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Lean into the rising risk appetite with content that supports it responsibly: explainers on options, thematic baskets, and sector rotation will land with a user base that's already moving that way. 
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And on IPOs, build features for valuation-based entry and post-listing tracking rather than a Day 1 rush – the data says even your most engaged traders want the number to make sense first.

How can we help?

‍Promote gives trading platforms multi-channel access to a community of more than a million engaged retail and accredited investors, built around exactly the kind of real-time, fundamentals-aware content this audience responds to. 
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Get in touch to learn more.

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