“The traditional barriers to investing have been broken down and we’re leveling the playing field for each and every investor worldwide.”
A report conducted by fractional investing pioneer DriveWealth found that inflows to U.S. equities in 2021 outpaced the preceding 20 years, bringing retail trading volumes to nearly a quarter of daily average volumes, a new record relative to institutional trading.
The report is based on aggregated data from more than 15 million customers around the world who trade fractional shares of U.S. equities through DriveWealth’s network of more than 100 global partners, including Revolut, MoneyLion, and Stake, among others.
As to account openings through DriveWealth’s embedded finance platform, the report points to an astonishing 241% growth since January 2020. Younger investors were the key demographic as more than 80% of new accounts were opened by Millennials and Gen Z. In the second half of 2021, these two generations set the trading pace with an average of over eight trades per quarter.
Bob Cortright, Founder and CEO at DriveWealth, said: “With so many newer and younger investors entering the markets, it’s not surprising that the demand for digital investing continues to grow. Fractional investing unlocks access to financial opportunity for investors of all ages as it enables them to start small and learn as they go. As trade sizes trended lower and over 94% of trades made through our platform had a fractional component in 2021, fractional investing has become the norm. The traditional barriers to investing have been broken down and we’re leveling the playing field for each and every investor worldwide.”
Harry Temkin, Chief Information Officer at DriveWealth, commented: “In 2022, we expect to see the user experience continue to evolve along with investor sophistication. We’re already seeing demand for tools that enable investors to invest passively, engage often, exchange across asset classes, and automate their investing preferences. With these new embedded finance tools for financial wellness in the pockets of emerging investors around the globe, we believe we’ll see significant momentum carry into 2022.”
DriveWealth’s report also revealed the top trends in stock picking in the many regions across the globe, including the United States, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), LATAM (Latin America), and APAC (Asia Pacific).
In the US, the top five traded symbols were VOO, TSLA, VTEB, VXF, and SUB, while the top traded ETF was Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund (VOO).
In the EMEA region, the top five traded symbols were TSLA, AMZN, AAPL, AMC, and NIO, with four out of the top five traded symbols appearing in every quarter.
In Latin America, the top five traded symbols were TSLA, AMZN, AAPL, FB, and VOO, with seven of the top 10 traded symbols from 1Q reappearing in 4Q.
In the Asia Pacific region, the top five traded symbols were TSLA, AAPL, LCID, NVDA, FB, with TSLA being the most traded symbol in three out of four quarters.
DriveWealth has been spreading fractional investing across the globe with great success. The feature has increasingly become the norm within the trading industry and other renowned trading firms have launched similar products to compete in this category.
ABN AMRO Clearing was the latest to develop a fractional investing infrastructure in order to take over the European market. Dutch neobroker BUX has become their first client.
