Retail investing surged during the stock market recovery amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Chatham, N.J.-based DriveWealth measured a 214% increase in second-quarter trading volume compared to the previous quarter across its network of digital partners as overall trading activity doubled.

DriveWealth, a provider of global digital trading technology, claims that retail trading activity rose by 60% in June alone. Much of this activity is being generated from newly opened accounts. The second quarter saw a  54% increase in account openings on top of a record-breaking number of retail investing accounts that were opened in the first quarter.

“In common with other brokers, we’ve seen record levels of retail account openings and trading activity following March’s market correction,” said Bob Cortright, DriveWealth CEO and founder. “While the correction has no doubt attracted many new entrants into the market, we believe that the pandemic and social distancing measures have also served to accelerate the move into digital financial services. Interestingly, account openings among investors aged 60-plus outpaced other age groups, highlighting the move towards digital is far from a millennial-only phenomenon.”

While DriveWealth expected an increase in retail trading during the lows near the end of the first quarter, it also predicted that activity would ease as markets recovered. But in reality, the opposite has occurred. More money is being invested, and more investors are participating.

For example, during the second quarter, DriveWealth noted that deposits into investment accounts maintained their levels from the first quarter, and that there hasn’t been a single day of net outflows from accounts so far in 2020. Assets on its platform doubled in the second quarter over the first.

The number of trades per account increased by 33% during the second quarter, with about 70% of the activity on DriveWealth’s platform directed towards buying shares. The average trade size was $211, a 56% increase from the first quarter.

Fractional share trading, recently made available by Fidelity, Robinhood and other brokerages and fintechs with a strong online presence, increased by 87% from first quarter levels during the second quarter. In the U.S. alone, fractional share trading was up by 129% across DriveWealth’s platform.

While traditional exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange have noted an increase in buy orders at the open due to the influx of retail trading, DriveWealth noted a decline in orders at the open across its platform in the second quarter—possibly because investors using fractional shares prefer to place buy orders while markets are open. But it may also signal rising sophistication among retail investors. That said, a large cohort of retail investors still place their orders at the open.

DriveWealth also revealed that while international investors sought opportunities in stocks hurt by the ongoing pandemic, U.S. retail investors have largely embraced investing in passive products.

Among U.S. investors, the most traded tickers were VOO, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF; VTEB, the Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF; AMZN, Amazon.com; VXF, the Vanguard Extended Market ETF; and SUB, the iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF.

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