Results indicate robust mobile investing and trading activity:

Mobile investing is essential. 64 percent of all investors, and 81 percent of investors under 44, categorize the ability to invest on the go as “critical.”
Mobile investing activity has increased. 34 percent of all investors use their smartphones for investing purposes very or somewhat frequently, up 5 percentage points from last quarter and 4 percentage points over the year. 49 percent of all investors use an investing or trading app two to three times per week.
The future of mobile investing is bright. 51 percent of all investors, and 70 percent of investors under 44, plan to increase the use of their smartphones for investing purposes over the next year.

Similar to last quarter, checking stock quotes remains the most popular investing activity performed on smartphones (42 percent), followed by monitoring a portfolio, and checking on market movement, at 37 percent and 34 percent, respectively.

Following the introduction of the Apple Watch, the study measured interest in using wearables for investing. Although still in their early days, one in three investors (31 percent) want wearables for monitoring portfolios. Investor segments most interested in wearables include: Active traders (51 percent); investors under 44 (49 percent); E*TRADE customers (46 percent); and female investors (39 percent).

“Investors have spoken — mobile is indispensable. Today's savvy investors want to be on the cutting edge of digital,” said Kunal Vaed, SVP of Digital Transformation and Active Trading Platforms at E*TRADE Financial. “They expect to effortlessly track market movements and manage their portfolios while on the go, from bite-sized information on wearables, to rich immersive content on smartphones and tablets.”

E*TRADE offers pioneering and hassle-free digital platforms backed by human guidance. E*TRADE’s mobile offerings include investing applications for popular devices such as the Apple Watch, iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ Phone and Tablet, Windows® Phone, Kindle Fire Tablet, and Amazon Fire Phone. Investors and traders use E*TRADE Mobile apps to manage their accounts on the go, place stock, option, ETF, and mutual fund trades, as well as access real-time quotes, news, charts, and educational content anywhere.