Chart showing Apple stock price on smartphone app.
Jaap Arriens | Take a photo | beautiful pictures
LONDON — Retail investors are unafraid of this year’s drop in stocks.
According to a new survey from London-based investment insights platform Finimize, by 2023, most individual investors plan to invest the same amount or more despite the crisis. cost-of-living crisis.
The Finimize survey found that only 1% of retail traders said they plan to sell off their investments in the new year, while 65% will continue to invest and 29% plan to add more. their investment portfolio.
Max Rofagha, CEO of Finimize, said: “This data is proof that even in the current market environment, the majority are seeing volatility as simply part of the economic cycle thanks to increasing access to information and investment experience”.
“Also, it’s clear that the retail investor story is changing. For example, the focus has been on the behavior of a small group of day traders in the past.”
A survey of more than 2,000 retail investors across Europe, Asia and the United States found that more than 80% of retail investors think the worst of the stock market will be over within six months. month.
The majority (72%) of traders plan to back individual stocks next year, with 64% backing Big Tech names like Apple, Microsoft, Google and meta.
Meanwhile, 38% of retail investors plan to invest in crypto, even in the wake of the fallout of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX.
About 56% of traders believe bitcoin will be higher, compared to 44% who think it will trade lower. Most retail investors (58%) would invest more in crypto if it were more regulated.
Without a doubt, the biggest financial concern in the retail sector is the cost of living crisis. Consumer budgets are being constrained by high inflation, and it’s a blow to equities as central banks raise interest rates to curb soaring prices.
More than half (55%) of retail investors say their biggest financial worry right now is the rising cost of living. Higher interest rates are followed, with 28% of traders citing this as their biggest fear.
The role of retail investors in influencing the market made headlines last year after a community of new entrants on Reddit and other social platforms pushed seller shares. Odds game USA up high. game stop.
Even so, so-called “meme stocks” aren’t the focus of most retail investors, according to Finimize, with 84% having never invested in meme stocks.
Max Rothery, vice president of community at Finimize, told CNBC: “The GameStop frenzy was a flash, recent efforts to organize a similar move have struggled to gain traction.”
“As the environment becomes more uncertain, we expect retail investors to experience lower trading volumes but continue to invest.”
According to wealth management strategy consulting firm Indefi, the retail investment community will account for 61% of all assets under management globally by 2030, up from 52% in 2021.
Finimize says it has more than 1 million users worldwide. The company was acquired by wealth management giant Abrdn, formerly Standard Life Aberdeen, late last year.
