Australian millennials are increasingly investing in marijuana stocks
Trading app Stake has seen a big jump in the number of users buying global cannabis stocks over the past six months.
Local trading app Stake, which is an app that lets Australians trade stocks in the US and other leading global markets without any brokerage fees, has seen an interesting trend among its users over the past six months. Stake has seen a huge spike in the number of its users investing in global marijuana companies, with more and more Australian investors wanting a piece of the growing industry.
Global cannabis stocks have been of particular interest to millennial investors. Founder of Stake Matt Leibowitz said around 28% of all users of the app are in the 26 to 34 years age bracket, yet this group accounts for almost one third of all trades in the cannabis sector. In comparison, Stake users aged 50 to 65 only account for less than 5% of trades in this space.
Leibowitz said despite all the hype around tech companies like Amazon, they're not the only ones getting attention from Australians. "It's not just the big names that are getting the attention. We've seen enormous growth in the trades going through the pot stocks. It's obviously a booming industry in the US and the impact is being felt globally. Our customers are telling us they want to be trading the market leaders, names like Cronos, Tilray and Aurora Cannabis which are billion dollar businesses shaping the landscape."
Cronos is a Canada-based company that operates licensed producers of medical marijuana and cannabis oil, and Tilray is focused on medical cannabis research as well as processing and distribution of cannabis products globally. Aurora is another major licensed cannabis producer, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Marijuana was legalised in Canada six months ago.
"Aurora and Cronos were in our top 10 most traded stocks in March. Aurora made up 2.17% of all stock trades for March, just marginally behind Apple which is one of the most active securities in the world."
"It's a great sign that we are finally seeing international opportunities become the default option for Australians who manage their own money and not just an option reserved for institutions," said Leibowitz.
Not only are they popular, these stocks are also performing extremely well. Tilray shares are up almost 200% over the past year, with Cronos not far behind, up over 175%.
