FinTech-driven Investment Platforms and Individual Investment Performance: Mediation by Investment Decision-making Quality and Moderation by Risk Tolerance

Abstract

The rapid growth of FinTech-driven investment platforms has reshaped how individuals engage with financial markets, offering greater accessibility and efficiency but also raising concerns about decision-making quality and investor performance. Despite increasing adoption, empirical evidence on the behavioral and contextual factors influencing investment outcomes in FinTech environments remains limited. The present study aims to examine the relationship between FinTech-driven investment platforms and individual investment performance, with investment decision-making quality as a mediating mechanism and risk tolerance as a moderating factor. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed, and data were collected from individual investors actively using FinTech-based investment applications. A structured questionnaire was administered, and responses were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that FinTech-driven platforms positively influence investment performance, and this relationship is partially mediated by the quality of investment decision-making. Furthermore, risk tolerance significantly moderates the strength of the association between FinTech adoption and investment performance, suggesting that higher tolerance enhances the benefits of technology-enabled investing. These results contribute to the growing literature on financial technology and behavioral finance by highlighting how digital platforms, individual traits, and decision-making processes interact to shape investment outcomes.

Keywords: FinTech-driven Investment Platforms, Investment Performance, Investment Decision-making and Risk Tolerance