Number of investors in equity market grows in Q1 amid volatility
Over 2020 Q1, the number of brokerage and trust management (TM) clients increased by 18% to 5 million and by 14% to 390 thousand persons, respectively. The number of investors grew amid dropping prices on financial assets caused by the pandemic and the decrease in deposit rates. Investors were buying assets falling in prices in anticipation of a fast recovery, which cushioned the slump and helped to stabilise the market. This is evidenced by the Review of Key Indicators of Professional Securities Market Participants for 2020 Q1. With that, banks retain their attractiveness for the majority of clients.
Given the growing number of investors, the average size of individual investment accounts (IIAs) declined in the first quarter: from 63 to 57 thousand rubles for the IIAs of customers of banks’ brokerage services, from 215 to 202 thousand rubles for the IIAs held with brokers — non-bank financial institutions, and from 301 to 285 thousand rubles for those held with trust managers. The overall value of portfolios under standard TM strategies grew by 11% over the quarter, to 259 billion rubles, while the average portfolio size shrank from 0.9 to 0.8 million rubles.
The main increase in the number of clients was ensured by the standard strategies of IIAs that invested in Russian bonds.