The direct share-trading boom has lost some fizz over the last two years as a key cohort of New Zealanders turn away from punting on stocks, a new Canstar survey has found.
According to the just-released Canstar NZ ‘Consumer Pulse’ report, the proportion of Kiwis aged 30 to 49 “dabbling in the sharemarket” dropped from over 40 per cent in 2021 to under 30 per cent in the latest study.
“Men remain more active, with 29% investing, compared to 21% of women,” the Canstar survey says. “On average, a greater percentage (39%) of those on higher incomes ($120,000+) still invest, but this is still down from 51% in 2021.”
In the previous 2021 study, Canstar found New Zealanders aged in their 30s and 40s were the most active direct share investors.
“It seems many older Kiwis, faced with rising living costs, are responding by pulling back on investments into the sharemarket,” the report says.
However, the reduced appetite for retail investor direct stock-trading also coincides with a broad slump in 2022 that saw global markets off about 20 per cent and the NZX index down approximately 15 per cent.
The Canstar data chimes with NZX statistics that show the total number of share trades on the local bourse fell almost a quarter last year compared to 2021 while the value-traded slumped more than 30 per cent.
Retail share-trading took off globally as new digital tools coincided with a liquidity fueled market surge in the wake of the brief COVID-19 crash.
But the explosive growth of trading platforms such as Sharesies in NZ and Robinhood in the US has slowed. For example, Robinhood reported active user numbers of 12 million as at February this year compared to the 2021 peak of over 22 million while assets under custody fell 14 per cent year-on-year to just under US$75 billion.
Despite fading enthusiasm for stock-trading among middling age brackets in NZ, the Canstar study found younger Kiwis were still having a crack.
“Of the under 30s who had purchased shares, 56% were doing so for the first time. They are also the heaviest users of micro-investing platforms,” the report says. “More than one in ten (11%) of under 30s have invested through such a platform, compared to only 3% of that age bracket in 2021.”
Overall, only about a quarter of New Zealanders invest directly in shares, the Canstar survey found.
“Across all age groups, most investors still operate through managed funds (25%) or into particular companies (23%),” the report says.
The Australia-based financial research and comparison business, Canstar, is headed by Andrew Spicer.