After declining since last summer, the stock market activity of French individuals picked up in the 1st quarter of 2022, data from the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) show.
According to its Quarterly Dashboard, compiled on the basis of transaction reports, the number of retail investors having carried out at least one equity transaction increased compared to the October-December period, to reach 793,000 (compared to 743,000 in Q4 2021), “ close to the high average observed in the previous two years “.
Buying Opportunities
In a context of falling markets (-6.55% for the CAC 40 between January and the end of March), “ this quarter was marked by a large number of private equity buyers “. 606,000 people bought shares over this period, i.e. 44,000 more than in the 4th quarter of 2021, and 80,000 more than in the 3rd quarter of 2021.
” The number of new investors also rose again, to 91,000, a level above those of the previous six quarters “, reports the AMF. On the other hand, the volume of transactions on equities fell noticeably, to 10.69 million (-2.22 million compared to Q42021), at a level lower than those of 2020 and 2021.
ETFs are on the rise
The return of risk aversion also seems to have benefited passive management. Over this period, partly marked by the war in Ukraine, the number of individuals having carried out transactions on ETFs reached its highest level this quarter since January 1, 2018, at 165,000. This “capped” between 100,000 and 110,000 quarterly transactions since the 2nd quarter of 2020.