Retail investors are increasingly propping up global equity markets, even as institutional money reduces risk and hedges exposures, according to exchanges, market makers and trading venues. Market participants report that households continue buying equities — often through trading apps and dollar-cost-averaging strategies — and tend to increase allocations during periods of heightened volatility.
At the FIX Paris conference, Roland Prévot, Head of Retail at Euronext, said retail activity rises meaningfully when markets become volatile.
“Across Euronext, retail represents about 3.5% of cash-equity turnover, rising to 6% in periods of high volatility. But the picture varies: in the Netherlands retail is around 10%, and in Italy it’s closer to 20–25%, which is much more comparable to the US.”
A New Generation of Risk-Tolerant Retail Traders
A growing cohort of young retail traders is reshaping market behaviour, prioritising accessibility over traditional market infrastructure.
Anne Gaignard, CEO of Place des investisseurs, noted that younger investors want seamless, always-on access to markets.
“They don’t care about liquidity. What they want is accessibility — to be able to trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week… They want an app, very simple, to open an account in three minutes and trade everywhere immediately.”
At eToro, which has over 40 million users globally, this trend is reinforced by automated investing habits. Julien Nebenzahl, President of Patrimoine, said:
“Dollar-cost-average investments or programmed investment plans mean investors can add smaller amounts each month rather than a lump sum… giving them a better chance of getting a good average price.”
What’s Driving Retail Risk Appetite?
From a macro lens, younger investors are deeply exposed to high-growth themes such as AI and the “Magnificent Seven.”
Laurent Clavel, Head of Cross-Asset at AXA IM, said:
“Gen Z are trying to find ways of getting rich fast, yet many have other priorities than money or a traditional career… In my opinion, they will be the ones investing in good companies locally, because that’s what they really want.”
Exchanges Compete for Retail Flow
European exchanges are increasingly designing specialised programmes to attract retail order flow. Euronext’s “Best of Book” and Cboe’s newly launched retail programmes allow retail orders to trade for free within controlled market-making frameworks.
Market makers value retail orders because they are typically uninformed and non-toxic counterparties. Meanwhile, Germany will ban payment-for-order-flow (PFOF) next year, shifting more retail flow toward transparent, on-exchange execution.
Marie Heraud, Director of Cash Equities Sales at Cboe Europe, highlighted the benefits of keeping retail orders on-exchange:
“The vast majority of US retail trades off-exchange, which is a missed opportunity. Keeping retail on-exchange in multilateral venues creates a more diverse ecosystem and promotes stronger price formation.”
Retail Is a Key Support Into Year-End
A report from Citadel Securities, authored by Scott Rubner, indicates that retail investors remain a major stabilizing force as institutional investors de-risk.
Rubner wrote:
“Institutional positioning has been sharply reduced heading into Thanksgiving, while retail demand has remained remarkably resilient.”
He added that retail investors have not panicked during recent periods of volatility, noting:
“Retail flow has been decisively skewed to the buy side… Retail investors remain one of the most important sources of demand in 2025.”
Retail investors have also driven 29 consecutive weeks of net call-option buying, absorbing non-fundamental supply and shaping price action in key segments.
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