Every year since 1986, the ASX (Australian Securities Exchange) have conducted what they call the Australian Investor Ownership Study (Formerly theASX Share Ownership Study). Thestudy aims map out trends in investor behaviour, answering questions like, who’s investing, where they’re investing, their decision-making process, and their investment goals.  The ASX is Australia’s dominant securities exchange, which means a survey like this is useful for them to conduct market research on their continually evolving customer base.
This year’s study was released in September, and comes at a very interesting time, as investors try to navigate their way through thechallenges, and opportunities imposed by the pandemic and associated recession.
Here are some findings I took from the study that you might find interesting:
46% (9 Million) of Australian adults currently holding investments other than their primary residence (including SMSFs, but excluding other superannuation).
36% of next-generation investors (people aged 18-24) hold Australian shares directly.
20% of next-generation investors hold ETFs, which is the highest for any other age group.
Next-generation investors make up 9% of all on-exchange investors, and 25% of them started investing within the last 12 months.
The most interesting stat there for me is that 20% of next-generation investors (18-24 year olds) hold ETFs, which is the most of any other age group. It just goes to show that the uptake in ETFs as an investment vehicle has only just begun!
If you’re keen to read on, the rest of the study can be read here.