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Retail investing hits new highs in Q3 as DriveWealth sees record activity for account openings, number of trades, and volume traded

CHATHAM, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Retail investing hit several new highs for account openings, number of trades, and volume traded in Q3 amid the ongoing global economic uncertainty due to the pandemic, according to new data released today by DriveWealth, a leader in global digital trading technology.

Some of the key Q3 findings from DriveWealth’s proprietary data, which monitors investment activity by individual investors from across its network of global partners including Hatch, MoneyLion, State, Revolut, and Unifimoney into the U.S. equities market, include:

  • 33% quarterly increase in account openings was largely driven by investors under the age of 30.
  • 46% increase in trading volume in the quarter, despite increased market volatility and lower total market returns in the quarter.
  • Investors placed fewer trades on average in 3Q, however the average trade size was much larger.

One notable trading trend shows that it’s not the proverbial “day trader” that’s driving activity on DriveWealth’s platform. Retail investors are not timing the market but rather are investing when they have time and extra cash. DriveWealth is seeing spikes in trades and volume on Mondays as many retail investors place orders over the weekend.

“Embedded finance continues to change market dynamics, with over 32% of our orders being placed outside of market hours,” said DriveWealth Founder and CEO Bob Cortright. “This illustrates how many retail investors are not day trading or trying to time the market. These consumers are genuinely interested in making investment decisions that positively affect their long-term financial health.”

Most traded tickers

As was the case in Q2, the report found that the most frequently traded symbols in Q3 continued to be large, recognizable global brands and technology companies.

Some of the most frequently traded stock symbols were those companies that continued to be impacted in some way by pandemic, including Amazon, Disney, GE, Microsoft, Netflix, Nike, and Walmart.

Investors also traded heavily in Apple and Tesla as the stock splits from those companies drove unprecedented trading activity in those two symbols.

The top 10 traded symbols on DriveWealth in Q3 for self-directed investors were:

US investors

Non-US investors

Tesla

Tesla

Apple

Apple

Amazon

Amazon

Walmart

Nio

Zoom

Microsoft

GE

Facebook

Microsoft

AMD

Nike

Virgin Atlantic

Nio

Nvidia

Disney

Disney

The full report can be accessed on DriveWealth’s website.

About DriveWealth

DriveWealth Holdings, Inc., wholly owns DriveWealth, LLC, a member of FINRA and SIPC. DriveWealth, LLC is a licensed carrying and self-clearing broker offering digital brokerage solutions to broker-dealers, advisors and online partners worldwide through its proprietary investment platform. DriveWealth, LLC delivers access to the U.S. securities markets along with an array of digital products that power both emerging and established financial companies. For more information, please visit DriveWealth.com.

Contacts

DriveWealth
Will Hernandez

drivewealth@backbaycommunications.com

Categories
Business

Retail investing continues its upward trend in Q2 as DriveWealth sees record retail investing activity

CHATHAM, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DriveWealth’s retail investing hit new highs in Q2 amid the ongoing global economic uncertainty due to the pandemic, with fractional share trades increasing 87% from Q1, according to new data released today by DriveWealth, a leader in global digital trading technology. Data from the DriveWealth platform indicates this surge in retail activity is evidence of a larger paradigm shift in retail investing.

Some of the key Q2 findings from DriveWealth’s proprietary data, which monitors investment activity by individual investors from across its network of global partners including Revolut, Stake and Hatch into the U.S. equities market, include:

  • A 214% increase in Q2 trading volumes compared to Q1
  • Trading activity doubled (100% increase) in Q2 compared to Q1
  • The number of trades placed per account increased by 33%

“In common with other brokers, we’ve seen record levels of retail account openings and trading activity following March’s market correction,” said DriveWealth Founder and CEO Bob Cortright. “While the correction has no doubt attracted many new entrants into the market, we believe that the pandemic and social distancing measures have also served to accelerate the move into digital financial services. Interestingly, account openings among investors aged 60-plus outpaced other age groups, highlighting the move towards digital is far from a millennial-only phenomenon.”

DriveWealth’s data also found a few notable trends regarding trading behavior. Around 70% of all trades on the DriveWealth platform were to buy shares versus sell and the average trade size was $211, up 56% compared to Q1.

Fractional share trades – where less than one share is purchased – also increased in Q2, with a 208% increase in fractional purchases by investors in Latin America compared to Q1. This compares to a 129% quarter-on-quarter increase in fractional trades in the U.S., a 108% increase in EMEA and 65% uptick in APAC.

“Given that single shares of frequently traded stocks such as Tesla and Amazon trade are priced in the thousands of dollars, it’s no surprise that fractional share purchases are proving popular among investors,” said DriveWealth President Julie Coin.

Most traded tickers

The report found that the most traded symbols traded in Q2 continued to be large, recognizable global brands and technology companies, while in the U.S. specifically, Vanguard ETFs proved popular.

Many of the most frequently traded stock symbols are those expected to benefit from trends associated with the global COVID-19 pandemic, including services facilitating the mass shift to working from home (such as Google and Zoom), home entertainment (Netflix and Disney), digital payments (Apple and Google) and online retail (Amazon and Walmart).

In addition to the big-name brands, non-U.S. investors were also investing in more volatile stocks that were featured in the News including Hertz, American Airlines and petroleum companies such as Callon and Oasis.

The top 10 traded symbols on DriveWealth’s platform in Q2 were:

U.S. investors

Non-U.S. investors

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

Tesla

Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF

Hertz

Amazon

American Airlines

Vanguard Extended Market ETF

Apple

iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF

Callon Petroleum

Apple

Oasis Petroleum

Whiting Petroleum

Amazon

Hertz

Boeing

Tesla

Whiting Petroleum

Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF

Delta Airlines

The full report can be accessed on the DriveWealth website.

About DriveWealth

DriveWealth Holdings, Inc., wholly owns DriveWealth, LLC, a member of FINRA and SIPC. DriveWealth, LLC is a licensed carrying and self-clearing broker offering digital brokerage solutions to broker-dealers, advisors and online partners worldwide through its proprietary investment platform. DriveWealth, LLC delivers access to the U.S. securities markets along with an array of digital products that power both emerging and established financial companies. For more information, please visit DriveWealth.com.

Contacts

Media:
DriveWealth
Will Hernandez

drivewealth@backbaycommunications.com