Sharesies reveals Kiwi investors’ top stocks

Increasingly bullish investors seem to have shaken off bear market fears.

The results of a Sharesies study released today showed the most popular do-it-yourself trading app now managed $2.5 billion worth of assets and had seen trading levels hit a year-to-date high in June, with investor confidence doubling within the June quarter.

And Kiwis have been buying shares in Air New Zealand, Tesla, Apple, Auckland International Airport and Mainfreight since inflation peaked domestically.

The Sharesies index, a measure of its 500,000-plus customers’ confidence, was sitting at 43 at the end of June - the same level as September last year, but far from the 79 extreme confidence reads in January 2021 and September 2020, moments when Sharesies contributed to meme stock hype and optimism about Covid-19 vaccine efficacy.

“We’re potentially seeing signs of more bullish investing behaviour emerging,” the report revealing the study results said.

In June this year, the amount of money investors deposited into the trading app spiked to double the amount being withdrawn - equating to a 2.6 times deposit-to-withdrawals ratio, its highest level this year.

Sharesies put the increase down to the launch of its savings product in May.

Before the launch, the ratio was much closer to one-for-one deposit-to-withdrawals ratio, and had since normalised closer to that level.

The increase in funds was despite Sharesies hiking its brokerage fees, by up to 1.9 per cent for trades up to $3000, from around 0.5 per cent on average.

The fees for New Zealand users were capped at $25 for New Zealand shares, A$15 for Australian shares and US$5 for US shares. It also offered monthly plans starting at $3.

Another measure of confidence in markets was at its highest level since late 2021.

The proportion of investors picking individual stocks versus investing in exchange-traded funds was sitting above 80 per cent for the past three months - it started the year closer to 60 per cent.

Top fund picks included Smartshares and Vanguard’s U.S 500 funds, Smartshares’ NZX Top 50 fund and Pathfinder’s global responsibility and global water funds.

The mix of buying versus selling had remained consistent, with a 1.07 average over the past quarter.

Madison Reidy is the host of New Zealand’s only financial markets show, Markets with Madison. She joined the Herald in 2022 after working in investment and has covered business and economics for television and radio broadcasters.