Thankfully, as we’ve recently witnessed earnings growth in key sectors such as Health Care and Information Technology paired with ebbing supply chain disruptions¹, there exist expectations that the Federal Reserve may finally begin to lower interest rates this year which could further fuel a surge in consumer investing. In fact, when indexing Brokerage industry shopper volumes against a trailing 9-quarter average, we saw strong growth in early 2024, especially on Desktop and Mobile Apps. Shopper share on mobile browser saw a sharp decline in 2023, with only slight recovery in Q1 2024.

Another trend we’ve seen across devices is a shift to younger investors. Just two years ago, investors age 55 or older accounted for 57 percent of shoppers on desktop and 44 percent on mobile web. However, as of Q1 2024, those percentages declined to 51 percent and 25 percent, respectively, with the largest shift being a 12-percentage point increase in mobile web brokerage shoppers aged 35-54 years old.

It’s interesting to see how some brands resonate more with younger investors. Robinhood clearly stands out as a brand young investors are drawn to, with 33 percent of brokerage shoppers 18-34 years old indicating they currently have a Robinhood account (vs. just 18 percent overall). Meanwhile, legacy brands like Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard show minimal variance between 18–34-year-olds and the total segment of brokerage shoppers.

Survey Question: Other than the Brokerage account you recently shopped for, what other firms do you currently have a brokerage account with?

The same rings true for mobile app share. In March 2024, Robinhood accounted for 25 percent of mobile brokerage app downloads but, for the 18-34-year-old cohort, their share jumped to 42 percent:

Perhaps even more interesting is what we’ve seen when further breaking out brokerage shoppers by gender. On desktop devices, things haven’t changed much over the past two years. Males have consistently made up 51 to 52 percent of shopper activity. However, on mobile devices (mobile browser, specifically), we’ve observed an incredible shift in brokerage interest by females, increasing from 40 percent in Q1 2022 to 53 percent just two years later.

Something to keep in mind: Historically, women may not have been able to invest as freely as their male counterparts, perhaps due in part to having to assume the bulk of household caregiving responsibilities. Additionally, women live longer than men on average, so their investments might need to stretch farther. Increasing awareness of how these anxiety-inducing factors might impact investing and financial security may be driving the strong growth we’ve witnessed in female investing. Leading brands like Fidelity have recognized the huge opportunity new female investors present and have increased their focus on this key demographic, especially the younger generation. According to a 2023 study conducted by Fidelity², 60 percent of women now invest in the stock market, driven by Gen Z (71 percent). Complimenting that storyline, Comscore data shows that, on desktop devices, the volume of females shopping for brokerage products has increased 16 percent since Q1 2022 (vs. 13 percent for males), and the volume of women applying for brokerage accounts has increased 19 percent (vs. 11 percent for men). For Fidelity, we’ve observed a 42 percent spike in female brokerage shoppers on desktop since Q1 2022, and 51 percent on mobile devices. This appears to be a trend that isn’t going to ebb anytime soon.

It’s clear that the Brokerage industry continues to undergo rapid change, but with markets stabilizing (DOW: +4.9% 2024 YTD) or growing (NASDAQ: +22.4% 2024 YTD), 2024 should see continued growth in the number of net new investors, especially those younger and female.

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