A study has found 70% of retail investor saw the sharp sell of in the FTSE 100 as a strong investment opportunity.
The study by GraniteShares accessed retail investors behaviour and attitude during the recent market volatility.
However, despite the large majority seeing opportunity in the lower prices, just 22% of this surveyed had taken any action.
The survey took the views of 1,025 people between 27th and 30th March, which was just days after the FTSE 100.
“Since the Coronavirus crisis started, we have seen huge volatility in the FTSE 100 and other stock markets around the world. Our research shows that while some investors have responded by adjusting their portfolios, most are just sitting on their hands through this roller-coaster ride of volatility,” said Will Rhind, Founder and CEO at GraniteShares.
The FTSE 100 has rallied sharply since this research was conducted and it is likely a greater number of investors have taken action since.
Indeed, evidence from other trading platforms highly contradicts the assessment of investor activity by GraniteShares.
UK-based online trading company IG Markets has seen record trading activity through the coronavirus crisis as traders take advantage of the heightened volatility. IG Group had 22,500 new clients trade with them in the first 36 trading days of their fourth quarter.
Data from American trading platform Charles Schwab also completely discredits GraniteShares findings as it added 605,000 new brokerage accounts and the first quarter had 27 of the companies 30 highest trading days.
Millennial American investors were also extremely active during the volatility with RobinHood recording the opening of a whopping 3 million new accounts. RobinHood is a favourite among young American investors as it offers low dealing size functionality.
Notwithstanding the findings of GraniteShares research being way off activity at other brokers, the 70% of retail investors who saw a strong opportunity at the end of March have bene proved right.
