Trackers are on the rise
ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) are becoming increasingly popular among French investors in the financial markets, particularly among young people under the age of 35.
According to the dashboard on active retail investors in the stock market published by the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF), there was a sharp increase in retail investor activity in ETFs in the first quarter of 2024. The number of active retail investors who conducted at least one transaction involving these instruments jumped by nearly 36% year-over-year.
In total, 216,000 retail investors chose these financial products that track stock market indices, and the number of new investors more than doubled. For the first time, there were more than one million transactions in European ETFs. ETF investors are also getting younger, with an average age of 48 in 2023, compared to over 60 in 2018 and 2019. Among the 100,000 new ETF investors in 2023, 56% were under 35 years old.
As for stocks, in the first quarter of 2024, 737,000 people placed an order to buy or sell stocks, a figure that was down slightly from 2023 (-1.2%). Of these, 568,000 purchased stocks, including 59,000 new investors—that is, individuals who, during the first quarter of 2024, made at least one purchase transaction for the first time since January 1, 2018.
