Exchanges, market makers, and retail brokers as well as investor associations report that households are buying equities – often via apps and dollar-cost averaging – even as institutional money hedges and de-risks. In fact, they tend to buy more when volatility rises.

On Euronext’s cash markets, Roland Prévot, head of retail at Euronext, said at FIX Paris: “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.” Read more…