Investors over 55 years-old are embracing the Internet revolution in droves and bypassing younger generations in terms of online broking according to research conducted byWestpacBroking.
This older demographic group has seen a 20 per cent annualised growth rate in online share trading over a three year period compared to a modest decline among 25 to 35 year olds, according toBT Financial Groupexecutive Kevin Powell.
The survey indicates the internet generation is being left behind by their parents when it comes to online share trading, with its oldest recorded client opening an account last year being 104 years-old.
“We believe the strong take up by this age group is a result of increased familiarity with the Internet, buoyant share markets and the desire to build on retirement nest eggs using shares,” Powell says.
“A growing number of investors clearly want to run their own portfolio. The quality of accessible financial information available through the web has also helped develop investor share knowledge and has boosted their ability and desire to run their own investments.”
The analysis indicates that DIY traders tend to be conservative in their purchases with blue chip stocks such Newscorp, Telstra, Westpac, AMP and BHP consistently ranked as the top five holdings.
According to Westpac, new sign-ups are also increasingly electing to gear portfolios, with a 43 per cent increase in the number of new clients opting to gear in the last calendar year compared to the year before.
“Gearing a portfolio to access further share market opportunities is steadily gaining in popularity, [in line] with the overall margin lending market experiencing strong growth,” Powell says.
