INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Never has it been the case when the stock market has fallen 40% and brokerages have seen rapid customer acquisition in the country
In a comparable scenario, after the January 2008 market crash, the acquisition rate had dropped and stagnated for a good 10-12 months
It was only after 2009 elections that retail investors started opening accounts.
This time around, industry data is showing a massive
They are a smarter breed of investors compared with the retail investor we have had a decade or 15 years ago.
We observed that even when the
market witnessed a rapid decline since around third week of February, it did not stop young retail investors from investing in equity
SBI Cards IPO was a major trigger point at this time, considering its pedigree.
Afterwards the market just deep-dived as the Covid-19
pandemic frayed nerves of investors across the world and the risk-off sentiment spread like wildfire, resulting in FIIs dumping Indian
stocks irrespective of their vintage and business strength.
But guess what? For discount brokers this was one of the best months for account
They saw nearly 70% jump in account opening, and 80% of these new accounts were opened by millennials, who were first time
investors.
Secondly, mutual fund investment through SIPs was highest for each month compared with the year-ago periods
There was a steady rise in MF investment flow through SIP for in last six months, clearly indicating that millennials are investing through
SIPs even in a falling market.
Historically, retail investors enter the capital market or open demat accounts when the market is at its
peak, and stock is the buzzword on the Street
A three-year chart would show practically Sensex was down by good 12%-14% while Nifty fell somewhere between 11% and 13%.
Yet, overall flow
into MFs through SIPs increased during this period as retail participants understood that with the P/E ratio of market and forward earnings,
they are bound to make money in the long run.
Because of technology, zero brokerage and availability of information online, young investors
are now researching and learning about stock market, and waiting for the right time to invest in the market
They watch their interviews on YouTube for hours
They read stock composition and changes by their favourite fund managers
All of this goes on to show that millennials are shaping up as the smartest breed of investors in this country.
