Gen Z Investors Love Crypto, Gold and Banking Stocks

DALLAS–June 7, 2023 (BUSINESS WIRE) The Q1 2023 Apex Next Investor Outlook (ANIO) report revealed surprising investing trends across generations in response to major market-moving triggers, including the fallout from the Silicon Valley Bank crisis and ongoing stock volatility. The study utilizes data from Apex Fintech Solutions (“Apex”), the fintech for fintechs powering innovation and the future of digital wealth management. The study revealed trend-bucking data, including increased Gen Z demand for both gold and crypto as well as strong millennial interest in buying bank stocks amidst uncertainty in the banking industry.

The ANIO report analyzes investor data who trade through introducing brokers on the Apex Clearing Platform — across more than 1.3m Gen Z accounts and 5.6m accounts held by Millennials, Gen Z and Boomers, calculated from January 1 through March 31, 2023.

The following data refers to the rankings of the most commonly held securities at Apex by generation in Q1 2023. The data shows a given ticker’s movement within this ranking system among a particular generation. These observations are for informational purposes about generational trends and are not investment advice. Key report findings include:

• SVB ripple effect across generations: Gen Z investors were measurably more fazed by bank uncertainty than other generations who have first-hand experience with prior financial crises. On March 29 — the peak selloff day for bank stocks — Gen Z sold securities at an even higher rate than all other groups of older investors.
• Millennials are rocking the bank stocks: While older generations were selling off bank stocks, many millennials bought instead — shares of Charles Schwab (SCHW) shot up 21 places in the ranking amongst millennials, even while its overall market value plummeted by nearly 33%. Millennials also invested in First Republic Bank (FCRB), moving it up 25 positions in the rankings compared to Q4 2022.
• All generations agree on their favorite seven stocks: Across generations, the top seven largest holdings held in retail accounts on the Apex platform were: 1. TSLA 2. AAPL 3. AMZN 4. MSFT 5. NVDA 6. GOOG/GOOGL 7. META.
• Investors get zealous about gold: While global retail demand for gold dropped 13% YoY from Q1 2022, investors on the Apex platform were more zealous; in one week, from March 6 through March 13, the notional value of these investments increased 560%.
• Gen Z still likes crypto and digital: Gen Z’s three hottest, climbing-the-ranks stocks in Q1 include a crypto-economy company (COIN); a Bitcoin ecosystem provider (MARA), and a cybersecurity business (CRWD).

“Gen Z investors were in elementary school when Lehman Brothers crashed in 2008 – so in many respects, the Q1 bank crisis was really that generation’s first true financial crisis,” comments Connor Coughlin, Chief Commercial Officer, Fintech at Apex Fintech Solutions. “This is a generation that invests in disruptors and against expected trends – and over $70 trillion in assets will be passed down to this generation in the coming decades. Fintechs and advisors need to understand the attitudes, interests and values of this digital and disruptive generation.”