China’s DIY Traders Are Now Giving Billions to Market Pros
- Retail investors bought more fund products than stocks in 1H
- Issuance of stock-focused mutual funds hit a record high
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China’s 170 million individual stock traders are doing something unusual in 2020: they’re entrusting their money to the professionals.
Retail investors bought 487.7 billion yuan ($71.4 billion) worth of stocks through managed funds the first half of this year, more than the 340 billion yuan they invested directly in the market, according to data from Kaiyuan Securities Co. That’s in stark contrast to 2015, when individuals helped stoke a massive bubble by funneling 2.2 trillion yuan through their trading accounts -- or just under double the amount invested in fund products.