The share of under 35s among direct equity holders rose from 10.7% to 18.1% between March 2019 and March 2021, according to a Kantar survey published by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) on July 6. In two years, the holding rate would thus have almost doubled for this age group, going from 2.3% to 4.4%.
The appetite for the stock market does not wait for the number of years: those under 25 have a higher holding rate than that observed among 25-34 year-olds, 4.7% against 4%, according to the same survey, carried out on a sample of approximately 12,000 individuals aged 15 and over (and announcing a margin of error of 0.5 point).
“The fall in the markets in March April 2020 gave [aux jeunes] the opportunity to get started “, analyzes the AMF. Highlighting the “Confirmed rejuvenation of shareholders”, it “Welcomes the arrival of a new generation of investors on the equity markets” and “Wish that [celle-ci s’inscrive] in a long-term perspective, without taking excessive risks ”.
The direct shareholding rate for the general population would, on the other hand, be fairly stable, going from 6.2% in March 2019 to 6.9% in March 2020 and 6.7% in March 2021. Still very below, therefore, the level at the end of 2008 – nearly 14%, according to the same source.
“Not contradictory”
The stability estimated by Kantar’s annual survey is not, however, for the AMF, “Not contradictory” with “The arrival of new investors noted through transaction data over the past 18 months” : the “Strong market rebound may have led some investors to sell their securities to externalize their capital gains”.
The AMF had indeed reported, in a study published at the end of January 2021, of the arrival on the stock market of around 410,000 new investors in 2020. Then 70,000 others in the first quarter of the year 2021.
In detail, respondents claiming to be direct holders of shares are much more often men than women – they represent 65.4% of holders while they constitute 47.8% of the surveyed sample.
The AMF also specifies that “Between March 2019 and March 2021, the better-off increased their holding of shares directly” : the holding rate “Of people benefiting from a monthly income of more than 6,000 euros per month (at household level) increased from 19.4% to 25.7%”.
The survey also confirms the increase in the holding of units of account within life insurance, that is to say of vehicles that do not offer a capital guarantee (via investments in the stock market, for example ). With a declared detention rate increased from 10% in 2016 to 12.4% in March 2020 and 13.3% in March 2021, for the overall population.