According to a survey conducted by FUTU Holdings on “Millennials and Generation Z Investing Over The Pandemic”, an uncertain and volatile future resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic has led to more individuals taking a greater ownership of their finances by embarking on an acute investment journey.

The increased accessibility and usability of digital tools combined with a government-led push towards technology has resulted in younger investors—both in the Millennial and Generation Z categories—turning towards a greater interest in investing.

In the previous year alone, amongst in-profits investors, 18.8 per cent of millennials and 17.7 per cent of Generation Z doubled their position, implying that they had achieved 100 per cent of investment returns. And while investing appears to be on the rise amongst the younger generation in general, men were found to be more likely to invest, with 75 per cent of Generation Z investors on Futu’s platform being of that gender.

Stocks were also the most commonly traded for both Millennials and Generation Z as compared to other commodities such as funds, options or bonds.

In addition, there appears to be a shift in preferences towards new economy stocks, which refer to high- growth industries that are on the cutting edge of technology and believed to be the driving force of economic growth and productivity. These seem to make up the bulk of their portfolios, where the top ten most traded US stocks included big-name organisations such as Apple, NIO and Tesla.

The survey also revealed the following:

Trading Frequency: Generation Z trade 147 times per year as compared to Millennials, who trade 143 times per year.

Daily Logins: Generation Z open trading apps more often than Millennials. On average, Generation Z log into their trading apps 8.2 times daily as compared to Millennials, who log in 7.6 times.

Stocks browsed: Generation Z browsed almost 200 stocks while Millennials only browsed about 155 on average.

It is optimistic to see youths taking charge of their financial future from a younger age. The engagement frequency of online trading apps for Generation Z is already 26 per cent higher than that of Millennials, with them also browsing and placing more stocks on their watchlist.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has radically shifted our way of life—how we work, socialise, save and more— and young generations were especially impacted,” says Leaf Li, Founder & CEO of Futu. “The uncertain and discouraging conditions have pushed Millennials and Generation Zs to grow in resiliency and trained them to be ever-prepared for unprecedented situations. As we rebuild our economies and society, it is the younger generation who will be critical in shaping the world that emerges.”

In line with keeping up with the increasing trends of investing, Futu remains committed to improving the investing experience of users and clients by facilitating a social user community, staying true to its mission of making “investing easier and not alone”.

Through its Moo Community, Futu hopes to provide its users and clients with an open forum to share insights, ask questions and exchange ideas. Features that are available in the community include digital content, tasks & missions and analytical guides for both new and seasoned investors.

Singaporeans can now access the Moo Community through Futu’s recently launched online trading platform, moomoo, which seeks to be the technology-driven and international version of Futu’s renowned investing platform that focuses on empowering the younger generation of investors to take greater ownership of their financial future by providing market accessibility and data options, and reducing friction to access global investable products. moomoo is currently offering one free Apple share per new account opening with a minimum deposit of either SGD 2,700, USD 2,000 or HKD 16,000 before 1500hrs on 30 April 2021.

This year’s survey was conducted by collecting client investment data and social behaviour of Futu’s clients with the appropriate demographics over the past year.