The surge in retail investing isn’t limited to just one market. For example, the Stock Exchange of Thailand saw retail investors buying 120 billion baht ($3.2 billion) of equity more than they have sold, and this was the fastest rate of net buying UBS observed. Singapore, meanwhile, saw $6 billion of net buying just in the last six months.
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused markets to turn volatile. Yet, there’s a significant increase in trading interest by retail investors across Asean, says Ian Douglas-Pennant, Head of ASEAN Equity Research at UBS Investment Bank.
Presumably, some of these retail investors, with the normal work and travel pattern disrupted, have been turning to investing. As such, financial institutions need to better appreciate the “rising importance of the retail investor” in what might be the new normal.
